Vengeance: A Dish Served Cold!
by LadyRaven-321
Summary: A new girl is enrolled at Olympus High, and becomes instantly attracted to Neil. After a few dates Neil decides to dump her. She is so angry at being jilted that she unwittingly summons the goddess Nemesis...R&R Please and Thank you!
1. Win for the Umpteenth Time

Brief Summery: A new girl is enrolled at Olympus High, and becomes instantly attracted to Neil. After a few dates Neil decides to dump her. She is so angry at being jilted that she unwittingly summons the goddess Nemesis. What punishment will the vengeful goddess have for Neil?

_(This is based on a Greek myth of Narcissus.) _

Disclaimer: _Class of the Titans_ is a property of Studio B. In no way am I making a profit from writing this fan fiction story.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Please bear with me if my updates are not frequent. My schedules are usually pretty busy and I rarely get a chance to focus on my writing, but please enjoy what I do update and don't forget to send me a review once in a while. I'd love to hear from you!

**Vengeance: A Dish Served Cold!**

**Chapter 1: Win for the Umpteenth Time**

It is still quite early morning – barely the crack of dawn, that is. The sky is yet dark with a few stars still twinkling brightly over the treetops. On the outskirt of the sleepy town, standing on the top of a cliff of New Olympia, Cronus and four of his exceptionally large minions wait in complete silence. Idly they watch the eastern sky slowly becomes lighter, festooned with long, thin clouds of pink, orange and purple. Finally one of the Giants, a green-skinned one with a face of a red goat shifts his feet and leans over to grunt questioningly into their brooding leader's ear.

"Soon, Agnon," Cronus replies in a slightly impatient voice, "As soon as the brats get up this instrument of doom will be ready and then we can make our attack. Prophecy or not, I will achieve my goals this day!" He adds smugly.

"Not today you don't, Cronus!" A young male voice shouts out boldly from behind them.

Startled, Cronus and his minions twirl around. There, in some distance away to the still-dark horizon, stand seven familiar teen heroes silhouetted by the lights of Herry's truck shining up behind them from down the hill.

"Jay! But how…?" The God of Time is beside himself with astonishment and sheer frustration. It seems that every time he is about to succeed in accomplishing his plans for world domination, those seven heroes appear out of nowhere to foil him!

"You should know by now, Cronus, that no matter where you go, what ever you do, we will stop you!" Jay, the young leader of the group, declares confidently. "It is our destiny!" So saying, he steps forward and holds up his xiphos which glitters in the last bit of the light beams from the parked truck. The other six teens likewise bring out their own weapons and take on their battle stances, ever ready to fight the evil.

"Right, right…the prophecy," Cronus groans. Then he glares at his ogre-sized monsters, points toward the teen heroes and orders them; "Giants, distract them, will you!"

At once the Giants charge eagerly toward the seven teenagers. Cronus does not wait around to see what happens, instead, he heads hurriedly for the nearby mystical device he is planning on using to conquer the world. This device, which Cronus and his henchmen had constructed late last night, appears to be in a form of an 18-century Greek giant circular sundial made of brass (which serves as a conductor for energy). Large, square home-made solar panel is attached to it. What Cronus hope to put his plans into action is that as soon as the solar polar have fully absorbed the rays from the now- rising sun, it would recharge the sundial and Cronus, whose frequent time-traveling had weakened his powers, would in turn absorb the energy. With his powers newly enhanced and even twice as powerful, he can easily twist time according to his whims to eliminate his enemies and bring countless civilizations to ruins. After all, he is the _Time God_! If he is powered up to the point of being invincible, who can stop him from taking over and ruling the world?

Fortunately Jay guesses right away what Cronus is about to do and runs past the Giants to intercept the evil Time God.

"Oh no you don't, Cronus!" Jay yells, swinging his xiphos at the evil Time God in an attempt to put him out of commission for good. At the same moment, however, Cronus hastily materializes one of his golden scythes to defend himself against his young attacker. Both razor-sharp blades clash loudly with sparks flying off each time the hero and the villian tries determinedly to cut each other down.

Meanwhile, Atlanta leaps into the air and fires her Wrist Laser Crossbow at one of the Giants, causing him to freeze in his tracks. The burly Herry, using his practically indestructible Olympian Rope, manages to snag another Giant and pull him down without too much trouble. A few yards away Archie twirls his Hephaestus Whip over the head and flicks it at some loose rocks along a nearby ledge, causing them to come crashing down onto the third Giant's head which put him out of action. And Theresa and Neil, working together as a team, corner the last green-skinned Giant, Agnon, near the area of the cliff where a thin brook is flowing down the hill over the rocks.

While Neil is busy distracting Agnon by striking several fung-fu poses and shouting insults at him, Theresa sneaks up behind the goat-faced Giant. With a sudden leap she whacks his large head squarely with a swing of her nunchucks. But, surprisingly, the green-skinned Giant scarcely noticed it. Instead, Agnon was more enraged by Neil's incessant, in-your-face taunts. Out of anger and frustration, he lifts his heavy, hammer-like weapon in order to bash the impudent blond teen's head in. "Whoa," Neil whispers, suddenly nervous all of sudden, and backs slowly away from the angry minion.

Sitting a few yards away Odie is supervisng the team with shouts of instructions, his fingers busy jabbing away at his laptop keyboard as fast as he could. Being more of a tactician than a fighter, he can be relied on to think up the fastest and best solutions for the team to defeat their foes. Noticing that Neil has just stepped backwards onto a pile of medium-sized, smooth rocks in the thin river, Odie winces. It is not difficult to predict what would happen next.

"Hey Neil!" Odie calls out in a warning, "Careful man, those rocks are slippery! You could…"

But it is too late. Neil slips and loses balance, landing on the rocks with a loud thud. But it is a sheer luck that he fell, because in the next second Agnon's weapon narrowly misses Neil's head by inches.

"Ow…" Neil groans, not realizing he just had a close call. "That'll leave a bruise, that's for sure!"

Agnon grunts in annoyance at having missed the boy. However, he had swung the weapon so hard it slipped out of his hand and went sailing across the clearing. When the Giant realizes where his hammer is heading, he visibly flinches and utters one fateful word; "Oh-uh!"

Oblivious to what is going on around them Cronus and Jay are still locked in a sword fight, each struggling to prevail over the other. By now the sun is high above the horizon, and the Time God is becoming quite impatient. With an aggressive shove Cronus manages to push Jay away, causing the young hero to stumble and fall flat on his back with a painful grunt.

"We will have to continue this another time, Jay," The Time God mutters. He turns his attention towards the brass sundial which is now fully recharged. Eagerly he runs toward it, reaching for it with an outstretched hand in anticipation of increasing his powers to new levels as soon as possible. But just as Cronus is within an inch of touching the sundial, Agnon's flying hammer slams into it, shattering the device into thousand pieces and scattering the debris all over the clearing. The Time God is left with no other means to power up anytime soon.

"NOooo!" Cronus cries out in anguish. How those meddlesome teens frustrate him so! "You may have won this round, Jay!" He shouts angrily at the young brunette hero, "But mark my words, your _luck_ will soon run out! I shall yet win one day!"

With that said, Cronus waves his hand to his side in a weird way, creating a portal rift through time. Once the swirling tunnel is formed large enough for him to slip through, he leaps into it and vanishes into thin air before Jay could recover sufficiently to stop him.

"Oh, crud!" Jay curses. He turns around in time to see the four Giants fleeing the scene, leaving his six friends alone.

Atlanta, Herry, and Archie start chasing after the Giants but decide it wasn't worth it and soon stop running. Within minutes the monsters vanish from sight as well. Theresa and Odie hurry over to Neil and pull him back up, but not before they nearly slipped on the wet rocks themselves and come close to taking a tumble into the river.

"It looks like we won!" Herry smiles triumphantly.

"Good, can we go home now?" Neil whines, rubbing his sore, but perfectly shaped, buttocks.

"I'm with Neil on this one," Odie agrees, "It's late, we just beat Cronus…_again_. And we've got school in couple of hours!"

Jay nods in acknowledgement. "Alright, let's go then." He says with a sigh. The teenagers turn and trudge back to the truck. They have indeed beat Cronus - for now. Who knows what diabolical plan the nefarious Time God will think up next? Whatever it is, the young heroes are prepared and willing to deal with anything Cronus dish out on them.


	2. The New Girl

**Author's Note: It has been brought to my attention that there has already been a character on COTT with the name Stephanie. I have now changed my OC character's name to Stacy to avoid confusion to the fans (I have drawn a picture of her on my DA account and will soon post it on my website where the link could be found on my FF(dot)Net profile) …please enjoy the story…**

**Chapter 2: The New Girl**

Neil limps his way down the school hallway to his locker, still feeling the pain from where he had landed on the slippery rocks. _What a way to start the day_, he grumbles to himself. The young model adjusts his backpack on his shoulders and starts fiddling with the knob on his combination lock so he can open his locker. Once unlocked, he automatically peers into a full-length mirror which fits inside the back of the locker door from top to bottom.

By moving his head in different angles Neil searches for any blemish on his face, and is pleased to see there is none. Grinning with self-satisfaction, He runs his fingers through his silky bleach blond hair, smoothing down a couple of stray strands. _There! Now that's what I call perfection!_ As he is about to check the other side of his face one more time, something moving right down the hall catches Neil's attention.

Curious, he looks over his shoulder into the hallway which is in front of him. The first thing he sees is the most beautiful pair of legs walking towards his direction - the kind of legs you usually sees walking on a catwalk in a modeling show. As his eyes move up from the long, smooth legs, he notices a cute little blue skirt twirling with each step the newcomer takes. Strapped over her left shoulder is a little mauve purse that swings forth and back alongside her hip. Next thing Neil notices is that she is wearing a golden heart-shaped locket that rests comfortably on her bosom. She is also wearing the cutest, and obviously pricey, in the latest style of a pink T-shirt. No doubt this girl knows her fashion. Finally he gets a good look at her face. From her glossy rose lips, to her little button nose, to her bright blue eyes, her lovely face is framed nicely by her amber-colored hair tied up in a ponytail, highlighted with blond streaks.

Neil has never seen this girl before; he realizes she must be new to his school.

Holding her three-ring binder in front of her, the girl looks to be on her way to her morning class. As she walks past Neil she notices him for the first time. She pauses for a second, her eyes widening slightly. Neil puffs out his chest, well aware that his exceptionally good looks had captured her attention. He tugs at the straps of his backpack in order for him to look bigger and stronger then he is, raises his left eyebrow, flashes a bright smile and gives her a friendly wink.

The girl seems slightly taken aback. Then she giggles in a flirtatious way and hurries down the hall.

"Yeah, she's digging me…" Neil smirks proudly. He closes his locker and heads off to his morning class, whistling a happy tune.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Archie and Odie walk into the cafeteria carrying their lunch bags and pauses to look around over the milling students. Almost at once they spot Herry and Neil already sitting at their favorite table on the second level. Both boys have just finished half of their lunch; they seem to be waiting for their friends to show up. Noticing Archie and Odie, Herry grins, lifts his mighty arm and waves wildly at them, beckoning for them to come over. Without wasting time Archie and Odie walk up the stairs to join their friends at the table.

"Hey, how are things going?" Odie says genially as he settles down between Herry and Neil. "And hoo boy, I'm _starving_!" He exclaims, reaching into his lunch bag. He pulls out a ham sandwich on rye and takes a big bite out of it with great relish. Archie, though, looks a bit out of sorts about something. Herry raises his eyebrow.

"Cheer up, Archie, you're not the only one. Chiron gave us hard time in the gym, too!" He says, clapping his hand on Archie's shoulder.

"Yeah, well," The descendant of Achilles shrugs, still looking annoyed. He is about to bite into an apple from his own lunch bag when he notices Neil, eating slowly from his fruit cup, is shifting on his seat from one side to another in obvious discomfort. A slow smile spreads across Archie's face.

"Hey, Neil, how's your rear-end holding up?" He snickers. The blond teen gives him a sour look.

"Very funny," Neil grumbles. "Just to let you know that those rocks really hurt, don't ever say I never take one for the team!"

The others all chuckle at that. Suddenly Herry looks up; he had just noticed something lovely walking by. He whistles loudly. "Whoa, check out the new girl!"

Archie, Odie, and Neil all turn around and look towards a pony-tailed girl with long beautiful legs who had just taken a seat at the second table down. Dropping her binder, books and a lunch bag on the table in front of her, the young girl lifts her head, notices the four boys and smiles shyly. Then she lowers her head, opens her bag, pulls out a chicken sandwich on white bread and takes a small bite.

"Wow, she's hot!" Odie exclaims appreciatively, lowering his glasses to get a better look at her.

"Wonder when did she enrolled in here?" Archie muses, stroking his chin and looking intrigued.

Herry shrugs. "Don't know, but I'm betting she started a few days ago."

Just then Odie notices his blond friend is staring at her. That is a bit unusual; usually Neil would be more interested in himself than anyone else. The brainy young geek grins and leans toward him. "What do you think, Neil?"

Neil turns his head around long enough to smile at his friend. "I think she is totally into me."

"Oh brother!" Archie rolls his eyes skyward in exasperation. "You think every girl you meet is _'into you'_?"

"Can you really blame them?" Neil retorts, puffing his chest out and preening, running his fingers through his hair. The other boys all roll their eyes skyward and groan with annoyance.

"Hey, I wonder where Jay, Atlanta, and Theresa are?" Herry asks suddenly, looking around for their missing teammates.

"Oh, they went to make a quick report to Hara about our mission this morning," The young decedent of Odysseus replies, "They will catch up with us later."

As he idly watches his friends chatting away, Neil begins to feel as if he's being stared at. He glances over at the amber-haired girl. Sure enough, she is watching him with a bashful smile on her face. He grins again and gives her another wink. The girl blushes and seems about to speak something. Instead, however, she ducks her head, opens her three-ring binder, picks up her pen and start scribbling something on a piece of paper.

Realizing that she is no longer paying attention to him, Neil pouts a little but decides to focuses on finishing his fruit cup, scooping another bite of mixed fruits into his mouth. With nothing better to do, he turns his attention back to his friends still engaged in an animated conversation.

"Say, I wonder what Ares has planned for todays after school practice?" Herry asks, looking pointedly at Archie since the God of War is his mentor.

"Hm, not too sure," Archie replies. He pauses, mulling it over for a moment, shrugs and continues, "He is convinced we do need to work on our timing as a team, so perhaps another training exercise."

"Oh _great_ and we all know how much we _love_ them so…" Neil groans sarcastically and takes in another scoop.

"Come on, Neil, you know as much as we do we need to work on our teamwork skills…" Odie warns his blond friend, poking playfully at him. "Especially _you_!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" The descendent of Narcissus flaps his hand impatiently before his teammates would make any wisecrack about his capabilities (or the lack therefore).

"Neil, when are you going to take this hero stuff seriously?" Archie asks gruffly.

"I do!" The blond protests defensively.

Odie begins to chuckle. "Yeah, as serious as that girl, whom you think is _'into you'_."

"Hey, speaking of which, she's coming this way," Herry announces to the others. The boys all look around. It was the same girl from the second table, now approaching them rather diffidently.

"Um, excuse me…" The girl begins in a hesitant voice.

All the four boys lean forward toward her and grin warmly at her, waiting eagerly for her to continue.

"I don't usually do this sort of thing, seeing this is my first week at a new school," The amber-haired girl continues softly, "But I couldn't resist the opportunity to meet you," She is looking directly at Neil even as she speaks. "My name is Stacy."

The blonde teen perks up. "I'm Neil, and these are my friends; Archie, Odie, and Herry!" He replies confidently, leaning back in a relaxing pose in his seat taking care to not place too much weight on the sore spot on his butt.

Stacy turns her head slightly to look at the other three boys sitting with Neil. "Oh, hello," she says with a slightly embarrassed grin.

"Hello," Odie replies cheerfully, waving at her.

"Hey," Herry drawls, bowing slightly toward her.

"How are ya?" Archie inquires with a friendly nod.

"Um, fine…" Stacy shrugs, not knowing what else to say. Once again she turns her attention back to Neil.

"I hope you doing think of me as forward," She asks bashfully, "But I-I was just wondering if you would like to call me up some time?" With that she hands Neil a piece of paper.

The blond teen opens the folded paper. On it she had written her name and a phone number underneath it. With a smile he looks back at the beautiful girl. "Sure!" he replies enthusiastically.

Stacy blushes and lets out a flirtatious giggle. "Ok then, um, I-I guess I'll see you later…?" She asks hopefully, twirling her hair nervously with her fingers.

"Yeah, you bet!" Neil replies with an even wider grin.

With another giggle Stacy turns and walks away from the boys.

Smiling triumphantly, Neil tilts his head toward his friends. They all stare at him with stunned expressions on their faces.

"See, I told you she was into me!" He says smugly, preening once again like a proud peacock.

Odie slaps his hand over his forehead. "Unbelievable," was all he says.


	3. The Relationship

**Finally I have an update for all of you…Thanks for the reviews so far…I like to hear from you and the comments you may have!**

**Enjoy…**

**Chapter 3: The Relationship**

"That really sucks," Theresa gripes, and Jay agrees. They are just coming out of their door from their classroom, grumbling unhappily about the amount of homework Chiron has given them to do tonight. As they are about to head down the stairs to the exit doors on their way to the dormitory, they hear Neil's voice talking to someone just around the corner.

"…And so I said to him, 'I taught him the meaning of _mean_…'"

To their surprise a female voice giggles in response to Neil's speech. When they peek around the corner and into the hallway, Jay and Theresa notices right away Neil leaning against the brick wall in a proud, macho stance. Standing next to him is a young girl with an amber-color hair with blond streaks, and wearing a pink top and a blue short skirt. It didn't take much to see that this girl is completely smitten with Neil. Every time he flashes a bright smile at her, she blushes and giggles some more.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, Neil looks up and notices Jay and Theresa coming toward them. "Oh, hey guys!" He chirps happily. "I want you to meet Stacy. She just moved here a few weeks ago!"

"Hi Stacy, I'm Theresa," the redhaired teen says cheerfully. She gestures toward the serious-faced young man at her side, "And this is Jay."

"Hello," Stacy replies bashfully.

"Nice to meet you," Jay politely holds out his hand for her to shake it.

Neil glances at his wristwatch, frowns slightly and grabs his duffel bag off the floor. "Uh, say, Stacy I gotta go. My agent is expecting me for a shooting session this evening," He says, inclining his head forward at his newly found friend, "I'll give you a call sometime and perhaps we can hook up later." He gives a slightly indifferent shrug and walks away.

"Sure, I'll like that. Bye Neil!" Stacy calls, waving to the blond teen.

"Wait for us! We're coming with you, too!" Theresa hollers to Neil, "We need to fill you in about the team meeting you missed last night!" Neil stops halfway down the hallway and rolls forth and back on the balls of his feet impatiently.

Theresa turns to the amber-haired girl. "It was nice meeting you Stacy," She says with a warm smile, "Perhaps we can hang out sometime too?"

"Ah, ok." The new girl smiles politely, looking a bit uncertain.

"Take care, Stacy." Jay says with a wave and a nod. Neil looks over his shoulder briefly, wave at Stacy goodbye and continues down the hallway with Jay and Theresa walking besides him.

Stacy takes this opportunity to examine Neil's backside, admiring the view. She smiles to herself, basking in the fact that she had secretly hoping to find a decent attractive guy within a few weeks of arriving at this new school…and sure enough, she did! He's much better than most guys she dated in the past. What makes it even better is that Neil is a professional model. He even mentioned how she has the legs of one! Stacy sighs happily. Already she is imagining the months ahead in which she will be spending a great deal of time dating Neil and getting to know him and his friends better.

Yes, she indeed feels very lucky right now.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

**TWO DAYS LATER…**

Yawning hugely, Archie takes his attention off the TV, leans back on the arm rest of the loft couch and peers up at the wall clock.

"Hm, it's almost midnight. Neil's late coming back from the movies," He turns around to look at Atlanta sitting next to him with a cocky smirk. "What do you think what he's doing right now?"

Atlanta chuckles. "Maybe he's taking Stacy for a romantic stroll along the beach?"

Herry, sitting cross-legged on the floor and leaning against the side wall, let out a loud guffaw. He turns his head away from the TV to look at Archie and Atlanta with a wide grin. "Or maybe they have gone to a late-night ice cream parlor to share a Banana Split Sunday?" The brawny teen says in amusement.

"Naw, you know how those things would just ruin Neil's precious figure!" Archie exclaims with a mischievous grin. He stands up and, with one hand on his hip and the other hand up in the air; he puts on a relaxed stance. "Oh, no, I wouldn't want to spoil my _perfect_ form!" He mimics in the best Neil voice he can mustered, flipping the hand down in an effeminate way. Herry and Atlanta howl with laughter so loud it brings Jay, Theresa and Odie out of the kitchen where they are fixing late-night snacks to investigate what the ruckus is all about.

"What's so funny?" Jay wants to know, glancing curiously at their still giggling friends in the TV room, "I can hear you laughing all the way down the hall from the kitchen!"

"Oh we were just debating on whether Neil took Stacy to the beach or to the ice cream parlor!" Atlanta answers, still snickering.

Theresa raises an eyebrow and looks quickly at the wall clock.

"It's midnight already? I thought Neil was only going to take Stacy to a movie tonight!" She says in surprise. "I wonder where they can be."

"Well, maybe the two of them decided to extended their date and, uh, go somewhere romantic afterwards?" Jay suggests, trying to keep a straight face over the irony of his words. Atlanta sputters into her hands, and Archie and Herry grin at each other, winking knowingly.

Odie rolls his eyes. "Ah, need I remind you guys that this is _Neil_ we are talking about!" He points out.

Archie nods and becomes sober and gruff. "True, the most romantic place Neil could have taken Stacy would be the Hall-of-Mirrors." He says quite seriously.

All six teens burst out laughing.

The front door swings open and Neil breezes in through it. Noticing everyone practically rolling around on the floor in a laughing fit, he stops dead in his tracks and stare at them with a slight frown on his handsome face.

"Uh…hello guys? You didn't have to wait up for me, you know." He says in a vaguely perturbed tone.

"Hardly, we were just talking," Odie snorts, adjusting his glasses and trying to act nonchalant. Neil raises his eyebrow and gives him a suspicious glare.

Deciding to address Neil directly, Jay clears his throat to attract his attention. "Where did you go Neil?" The team leader asks, mostly out of curiosity. "Thought you were only going to see a movie with Stacy tonight?"

Neil blinks at him, and then his face clears up. "Oh, yeah. We did…it was a double feature." The blond teen answers in a matter-of-fact tone. He shrugs and lets out a big yawn. "Well, I'm off to bed. Night guys." With that said, Neil walks across the living room towards the stairs.

"What movies where playing in the double feature?" Atlanta calls out to him.

Without glancing backwards Neil waves his hand tiredly in response. "Oh, they were called _'None of your Business'_ and _'Tell you Another Time'_." He says, and without another word he heads for the bathroom upstairs leaving the other teens to gawk at him. They look at each other, unsure what to say…and then they break out into a laughing fit once more.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

It has already been three weeks and Stacy is simply giddy that her relationship with Neil is going so well. The only thing that bothers her is the fact he hasn't tried kissing her yet. If she were in a relationship with any other guy, he would have gone to the second base with her already.

Right now she and Neil are on the roof of the dormitory one late afternoon, sitting comfortably in the large Adirondack Classic folding chairs next to each other, studying for exams later this week. She lifts her head from her geology book to look over the railing, enjoying the spectacularly panoramic view of the entire city. It's nice to finally see the place where Neil lives! Earlier she had told Neil she wanted a chance to study together, so he invited her to his place. Most likely he wanted to show her off again to his friends who live at the dormitory, but she doesn't mind it at all – she rather like being the center of the attention. After briefly greeting his friends Neil had suggested that he and Stacy come up to the roof to study by themselves - so here they are. Stacy smiles happily to herself.

But something is missing. There is still so much more Stacy wishes to know about Neil. Every time they had one of their casual conversations it usually ends up with Neil talking animatedly about his modeling career. Not that's a bad thing, but she longs to know him on a more personal level. She can tell Neil is somehow keeping secret from her, but she is unsure what it is.

The one thing Stacy notices is that Neil hasn't ever asked anything about her. She usually ends up having to ask Neil a few times some personal questions about himself, hoping that he would take hint and be compelled to ask about her… and he gets to raving happily about his own person and how great he is, how handsome he is, and so forth. That's fine, but Stacy wishes he would rave about HER, too!

Sighing, Stacy looks over at Neil who is studying an English book. How calm and content he looks, not to mention quite attractive too! He almost looks like he's posing for a photograph, but Stacy assumes it's a force of habit, considering that he's a model and all.

It doesn't take Neil long to feel he is being watched. He looks up and sees Stacy's lovely blue eyes blinking dreamily at him, her long lashes batting and her glossy lips curling up in a bright smile. He returns the smile for a moment, then turns his attention back to his book and continues reading. It's not that Neil really needs to study; he usually relies on his luck to get him through the class exams anyhow. But now that he realizes Stacy is not taking her eyes off of him, Neil finds it a bit distracting to keep studying.

Again, Neil lowers his book and look at Stacy rather quizzically. He frowns when he notices on her pretty face a smudge of chocolate from a homemade cookies Athena had offered them earlier in the afternoon.

"Um, you've got some…chocolate…" the blond model clears his throat, trying discreetly to point at his face to indicate that she's got something on her face.

"Where?" Stacy asks with an embarrassed and stunned expression. Nervously she tries to wipe her face with her hand.

Quickly Neil pulls out his mirror from his pocket and hands it to her. "Here," he says gallantly. Stacy takes it and uses it to check her face out rather anxiously.

"Oh, how embarrassing." She mutters almost to herself, taking her handkerchief out to wipe the chocolate splotch away.

Neil shrugs. "It happens sometimes. That's why I always carry a mirror around."

As Stacy finishes cleaning herself up, she notice the richly detailed gold rim around the three reflecting glasses. Glancing down, she notices the small monogrammed picture of Neil himself hinged from the bottom of the middle mirror.

"It's a very lovely mirror." She coos with admiration, stroking her fingers gently around each frame.

Neil looks pleased. "I guess I could lend it to you for a while…" He pauses suddenly, as though realizing what he had just said. Feeling hesitant but still trying to be gallant about it, he gives a nervous chuckle. "But I would like it back when you are done though."

Stacy's eyes widen. "Really…? Thanks! I'll take good care of it." She cries joyfully. Folding the three sided mirror and Neil's self-portrait carefully, she places it gently into her purse.

"So, uh, what do you want to do now?" Neil asks in a slightly nervous tone, scratching the back of his head self-consciously.

Stacy looks at him, thinks about it and has a bright idea. "Um…" She put her book aside and leans slightly closer to Neil, "W-would you like to kiss me, perhaps?" She offers in a shy, and yet, flirting manner.

Neil goggles at her, too stunned to say anything. It's not the first time someone wanted to kiss him, but usually it would have to do with modeling for a certain romantic shot with another girl. But then again, they are merely close shots - and not even real kisses either! However, the more he thought about her offer the more he becomes intrigued by it. This could be a chance to experience in kissing someone other then his own reflection for once. With a cocky smile, he turns to her.

"Sure," he says. He gets up, moves to Stacy's chair and sits down right next to her.

Mimicking other romantic model shots and movies he seen over the years, Neil places one hand smoothly around her tiny waist. With his other hand touching the small of her back, he presses her gently closer to his body. He felt like a real professional and has done this a thousand times over.

Stacy's head is swimming with emotions, lost in the moment of about to be kissed by the most attractive guy she has ever met. Her heart starts pounding so hard that it feels it could just burst through her chest. She attempts to keep her cool as Neil lowers his head closer until their lips begin touching.

At first the kiss starts small and tentative. Before long the kiss gradually increases as Neil subconsciously slips his tongue into her mouth. Stacy lets out a soft whimper of happiness before responding likewise. Such rapture! She feels very heady indeed.

The door to the downstairs suddenly opens and Jay steps out through it. At once he notices Neil and Stacy embracing each other tenderly and locking lips like there's no tomorrow. Jay's eyes nearly pop out with astonishment. This is one scene he isn't expecting to see!

"Whoa…!" He gasps, just loud enough for new lovers to hear.

Startled, Neil and Stacy both open one eye and look over to see who dared disturb their intimate moment. Upon seeing Jay they hastily break off the kiss, and Neil gives Jay a mildly annoyed look. "Can I help you, Jay?" he said in a rather stiff tone.

"Oh, uh…" Jay stammers. He struggles to regain his thoughts, shakes his head bemusedly, and walks a short distance across the roof toward Neil and Stacy with a sheepish smile. "Ok…um, we were just wondering if you two wanted to see a movie we just rented."

"What kind of movie is it?" Stacy asks with enthusiasm.

"It's King Kong, the latest version." Jay answers.

"That's the one with the dinosaurs?" The amber-haired girl exclaims, "Cool, I love that one!"

Neil peers down at Stacy then back to Jay. "We'll be right down." He says with a hint of resignation.

"Ah, ok then," Jay nods. Then, not knowing what else to do, he starts to walk backward. "Well, we'll see you downstairs, then…whoops!" He had bumped into the wall next to the open door. Cursing under the breath at his uncharacteristic clumsiness, Jay all but flees down the stairs closing the door behind him.

Neil shakes his head and sighs. "That dude needs to work on his exits."

"I think we embarrassed him," Stacy giggles, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

Neil snorts. "Yeah, well, it's like he hasn't seen anyone kiss before!"

"Um, perhaps we should head downstairs then and watch the movie with your friends." Stacy suggests bashfully. Reluctantly she begins to move away from Neil and head for the door.

Neil licks his lips and grins widely. He had to admit to himself that he enjoys the taste of her cherry flavored gloss on her lips. "Wait…" he calls out softly to her, and pulls her back to him before she could take another step. "Perhaps I could kiss you one more time before we head downstairs?" He purrs into her ear.

Stacy looks at Neil and smiles. "Ok…" she replies and lets out a small giggle.

This time Neil lifts his right hand and strokes her cheek, gazing intently into her eyes. Then he leans in to kiss her once more.


	4. The Road to Dumpsvile

**Chapter 4: The Road to Dumpsvile **

Neil and Stacy are walking side by side down the hall one bright morning until they comes to a stop at his locker. As she watches the blond teen model fiddling with the combination lock, Stacy sighs contently. What a kisser he is! Just thinking about it still makes her all giddy inside. Still, she feels slightly perturbed about something. Pouting, she looks down at her textbook, wondering if she should get Neil to hold her hand, if only just for once. For days since their first magical kiss he hadn't made the move to do so. Such a simple thing – to clasp hands, fingers intertwining – it's the most natural thing the lovers do, isn't it? Not to mention doing something more than just kissing, too. What should she do to encourage Neil to get closer to her?

That was when she remembers something her dad had told her this morning.

"Say Neil," Stacy says eagerly and excitedly, "I was wondering if you would like to go with me to see a play this weekend. My dad got tickets for it since he helped produced it. Are you interested? …Neil?" Stacy looks hopefully over at Neil…only to see him grooming himself ardently in front of his locker mirror.

"Huh…? You were calling me?" Neil says, turning around to look quizzically at her. Stacy's face falls. Apparently he isn't even paying attention to what she was saying!

Realizing that Stacy is looking at him in a slightly annoyed expression, Neil grins sheepishly and tries to remember what she was talking about just a while ago. "A play…with you?" He says, cocking an eyebrow and looking at her for confirmation. Stacy nods rapidly and leans slightly forward toward him, looking at him with high expectation. Neil scratches the back of his head. "Uh, sure…I guess…I need to check my schedule first." He turns back to his mirror and preens himself some more.

Feeling a bit stung, Stacy lowers her eyes. "Oh, ok then." She pauses to think for a moment before returning her gaze to the back of Neil's head. "You know, I couldn't help noticing how you've been 'busy' quite a bit lately," Feeling a sudden lump in her throat, she hesitates before continuing somewhat tentatively, "Is there something you need to tell me, Neil?"

Neil raises his eyebrows in confusion. He turns around, blinks at Stacy for a moment or two and finally gives her a quick shrug, still looking a bit bewildered. "Look, I just have other things to do, ok?" He replies rather bluntly, closing his locker door and slinging his backpack over his shoulder. In doing so, he failed to see a look of hurt on her face.

"Oh, I see…ok then." She sighs, turning halfway away from Neil, fighting the urge to cry. _What happened?_ _I thought we were doing so well! _She wonders anxiously, _have I_ _done something wrong?_

The school bell blares loudly, the noise echoing down the hall indicating that the first classes are about to begin.

"Guess it's time for me to go to the geography class now." Stacy murmurs softly.

Neil nods. "Yeah, I better run…Oh! Stacy!" He turns around abruptly and looks at her rather anxiously. "How does my hair look?" He asks her, touching his head.

Stacy blinks curiously at him and then gives him a quick look-over. "It looks perfect." She replies with a smile.

Neil beams with pride. "Great, see you later then."

"Ok," _Maybe he's going to give me a kiss?_ With a hopeful anticipation Stacy closes her eyes, puckers her lips up and leans toward Neil. After a minute or two she frowns slightly, wondering why he hadn't kissed her yet. "Huh?" She opens her eyes. Neil had already turned away from her and was walking away down the hallway without a backward glance. The confused look on her face turns to a sharp disappointment. _He didn't even kiss me goodbye! How can he...?_

Just then Neil stops in his tracks as if he just remembered something. He quickly turns around, hurries back to her, leans forward, and kisses Stacy on the cheek.

"See you at lunch," he chirps at her with a trademark grin.

Sheer relief floods Stacy, and she smiles happily at him. "You bet. See you then!" She declares brightly. _Oh well, it's better than nothing!_ She muses, rubbing her cheek affectionately. Once again, Stacy watches Neil walk away. She can't help it; she just loves the way that teen model walks.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

**LATER…**

The six teenagers walk into Hermes' communication room, having been summoned by the messenger of the gods himself. Hermes, adjusting his winged pilot cap, turns around in his swirling chair and greets them cheerfully. "Ah, here you are, just in time to hear this important news report…wait, where's Neil?"

Surprised, the teenagers crane their heads around looking for the missing seventh teammate. Odie sighs and shakes his head. "Looks like Neil is late…and probably not for the first time!" He remarks grumpily.

Finally, after a few minutes, Neil arrives at last, strolling in through the set of double doors and holding his cell phone to his ear.

"Yes, I know about the play this weekend…no, I still need to check my agenda book. There may be a chance I'm working on a photo shoot that day." Neil pauses, look up, and realizes his friends are all glaring at him. Even Hermes stands there tapping his foot impatiently on the floor with the same disapproving expression on his face as the other six heroes. "What…?" The blond teen whispers in a confused manner.

Jay clears his throat and taps on his wristwatch. "You're late." He says simply, raising one eyebrow.

With an exasperated sigh Neil rolls his eyes skyward. "Look Stacy, I gotta go…Yeah, I'll call you back later…bye." Thus done, he closes his flip-phone and put it away in his pocket.

Now that all his teammates are accounted for, Jay turns back to the skinny, caduceus-wielding god. "What do you have for us, Hermes?"

"Alright. A few of Cronus' giants have been spotted near the cliffs," Hermes explains, nodding seriously, "The very spot where you stopped Cronus from charging his Sundial capsule and using it to change time without having his own powers being drained."

"What do you suppose they are doing there?" Herry scratches his head in puzzlement.

Jay frowns and looks down in a deep thought. At once he comes to a conclusion. "Probably to find the broken remains of the brass sundial we broke from our last battle!" The young leader declares. He instinctively pulled out his xiphos and with the squeeze of the handle the blade pops out.

"Sure took them long enough to try and grab that thing!" Atlanta snorts.

"Come on, let's go!" The team leader calls out. Quickly he heads for the door with the others following close behind.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Just like déjà vu, the teen heroes jump out of Herry's truck and runs straight up the hill. There they see four giants scoping the area where the sundial was last seen.

Deciding to take the charge, Archie cries out determinedly, "Let's do this!" The other six teammates follow suit, running after the giants.

"Huh…?" Agnon looks up in time to see the heroes rush at them in a fighting stance. He gives a shout, and all the giants stop what they were doing to face the young teenagers.

Just then a familiar ringing tone blares out suddenly, coming from Neil's pocket. This distracts the young blond teen from the ensuring battle. "Not again," he groans as he slows down to a stop and pulls his phone out from his pocket, flips it open, and places it to his ear. "Yeah, Stacy, what is it?" He listens for a moment and grimaces. "No, I told you I'm busy and I haven't had time to check my agenda…Yeah, I'll let you know as soon as I do…Of course, the play sounds interesting…"

As Neil is busy engaging in the conversation with Stacy, totally oblivious to what is going on around him, he happens to take a few steps off to his right. It is a good thing he did, for one of the giants has just come lunging at him. The giant misses him by mere inches, falls off the cliff and tumbles all the way down to the trees below.

Odie, busy types on his laptop computer in an effort to find a way to defeat the giants, looks over his shoulder just in time to see the giant miss Neil as he is talking on the phone. Annoyed, he storms over to his blond teammate. "Neil! Come on man, what are you doing?" The small teen shouts furiously.

Neil puts his hand on the speaking end of the phone and glares down at the young genius. "Do you mind, I'm on the phone." He hisses at him.

"Do_** you** _mind, we are in the middle of a battle here!" Odie points out. "And here you are, yakking away on the phone!"

With a heavy sigh, Neil puts the phone back up to his ear.

"Look Stacy, I gotta go. I'll call you back later…ok…bye." With that said Neil flips his phone close and places it into his pocket. He turns to his dark skinned teammate and gives him an annoyed glare.

Odie lets out an exasperated sigh. _When will Neil ever learn to be responsible when it comes to this hero business?_ He thought, shaking his head in despair.

Attempting to ignore the seven teens attacking him and his fellow giants, Agnon hurriedly gathers parts of the old brass sundial and solar equipment for his master. Suddenly Archie's Hephaestus whip comes screaming through the air. It wraps tightly around the green giant's wrist. With a mighty tug, Archie manages to get Agnon to release his grip on Cronus' time machine. As though on a cue, Atlanta jumps in. With her Wrist Laser Crossbow she quickly stuns the giant, causing him to lose his balance and falling backward.

At once Jay and Theresa rush in and grab the machine away from Agnon before he has another chance to re-take it. Meanwhile, Herry lifts a large heavy boulder and tosses it at the two remaining giants standing at the edge of the cliff. The impact of the boulder sends the two giants hurtling over and straight down to the bottom, crashing into the ground not far from where the first giant had land just a short while ago.

Recovering from the stun effect, Agnon looks around him and realizes that he's all alone and surrounded by the seven brave, determined heroes. With a whimper he decides to make good his escape, scurrying away as fast as he can before the teens could put him down for good.

"Well, looks like he won't be coming around here again," Neil laughs. Odie gives him a sour look.

"Yeah, no thanks to you," Odie growls.

Neil looks quickly at his short friend, stung by Odie's comment. "What's that suppose to mean?" The blond boy asks, pouting. Archie, overhearing them, decides to rip into Neil.

"He means that phone call from your girlfriend. It could have cost us this battle if Odie hadn't confronted you over it!" Archie lambastes him, giving him a look of disapproval.

"Guys, what is your issue?" Neil says defensively, stepping back and holding up his hands, "Stacy was just calling to remind me about this play she wants me to go with her to see."

"They're right Neil,' Jay says seriously, turning around to confront Neil, "Stacy has been distracting you quite a bit lately with her phone calls. She's called during our training with the gods this past week and half, and now from our battle with Cronus' giants. Next time it may be a more serious situation. We need you to stay focus in order to defeat Cronus!" The young leader points out.

Feeling hurt, Neil frowns and crosses his arms. "Well! You guys are just jealous that someone in my life that actually pays attention to me." The model teen huffs, turning his nose up in the air.

"No, that's not the point," Theresa shakes her head, looking just as exasperated as the rest of her teammates. "Honestly Neil, sometimes I wonder if you actually care about this team…even just a little?" She sneers at him.

"Yeah, you bring a whole new meaning to the word 'self-absorbed'!" Atlanta adds disdainfully.

Eyebrows knitting in confusion, Neil looks down at her as though to ask what she meant by that.

"Oh, forget about it!" The fiery red-head growled in frustration, throwing her arms up in the air and walking towards Herry's truck.

"Never mind now," Jay sighs loudly, holding up his hand to quell any more quarrel that is starting to raise between the teammates and Neil, "Come on; let's get this thing back to the school so Chiron can have a look at this sundial." With that order, he and Herry begin picking up the solar panels and brass sundial. The rest of the teammates pitch in and assist them in carrying the damaged machine back to the truck.

Neil glares at his friends, watching them walk away from him. The confrontation with them has left him shaking. He is beside himself with total disbelief that they would talk down at him like that. It's not like he's done anything wrong! What's the big deal in getting a few phone calls now and then anyhow? With a sigh he figures that he should hurry and catch up with his teammates before they decide to drive off without him.

On their way back to the campus a few minutes later, however, Neil starts to see why his teammates made such a big fuss over the intrusive phone calls. _What's really annoying about all of this is that the guys are right_, he admits resignedly to himself. Stacy **_is_** becoming very distracting and taking his time away from what is important to him. Over the past couple of weeks since dating this girl, Neil hardly had much time for Neil. With a heavy sigh, he mulls over what to do and finally makes a decision. He just HAVE to do something drastic about her. One good thing is that Stacy is a very understanding person. Neil nods to himself. Oh yes, Stacy will surely understand why he is doing this to her. That's one of the qualities Neil likes about her.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

**THE NEXT DAY…**

Stacy is thunderstruck.

"You're breaking up with me…?" She gasps in shock, barely able breath as she stares in sheer disbelief at Neil. "I've never been dumped before…"

Neil avoids eye contact. Instead, he concentrates on adjusting the strap on his backpack. "Look I'm sorry, but this is just how it's going to be…You understand, don't you?" Neil says with a tone of hope, as if his decision made complete sense to everyone as much it did to him.

Stack shakes her head vehemently. "No, I don't understand," she barks back, still quite upset. "Did I do something wrong? Was I being smothering to you?" Stacy slaps a hand onto her cheek with the look of mortification in her tear-brimmed eyes. "Oh, God, I was smothering, wasn't I? I'm so _sorry_!"

Neil grimaces and shifts his feet uncomfortably._ Oh no, now she's going to cry. Why does this always happen?_ He thought to himself in dismay. _It's so simple to understand. How come she has to make a big deal out of it…?_

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Neil claps his hand to his face and drags it down as though he is trying to rub away the frustration he is feeling.

"Stacy listen," he tries to explain as patiently as possible, "You weren't smothering me…" the blond teen ponders for a bit before continuing. "Ok, maybe you were a little, but that's alright I didn't mind the attention…most of the time." Neil concludes, feeling quite pleased that he covered that well.

Down the hall the door opens and Archie and Atlanta comes out of gym class, laughing lightly over a joke Archie had just told her. The sound of someone crying out in an aggravated voice grabs the two young warriors' attention. Surprised and puzzled, they stop laughing and look curiously down the hall to see where the voice came from. At once they notice an obviously upset Stacy fuming at a very flustered Neil.

"Why didn't you say something then? I could have eased off a bit!" The amber-haired girl is shouting at the bleach blond teen. Neil visibly cringes at her sharp words. If there's anything Neil hates the most, it is someone yelling at him for any reason.

Neil tries to compose himself and takes a deep breath. "Ok, I'm going to try and explain this simply," he replies in a frustrated tone, smacking his hand to his forehead and dragging it down his face for the second time, "It has nothing to do with you, or the way you behaved towards me. I just feel it's time for us to move on. Get it?"

"There's another girl, isn't there? Oh, I'm such an idiot!" Stacy cries, clapping her hands over her eyes. _Of course! I should have known it! No wonder he was so aloof toward me lately!_ She could have mentally slapped herself again for not seeing the obvious. Even with her eyes covered she can't hide the fact she is starting to cry.

"What?" Neil is now confused. _Another girl? Where did that come from?_ He shakes his head and waves his hands wildly. "No! There's no other girl!" The blond teen shouts, hoping to get her to calm down and to talk rationally to him.

"Sure there are!" Stacy retorts, wiping her tears away angrily, "I bet there's dozens of them that you've kept secret from me. That could explain why you were 'busy', and had to keep hanging up on me during our chats on the phone!"

Neil is getting all wounded up. He turns to face Stacy. "Look! I was busy with other things, ok! I can't explain why, but I was!" He shouts back defensively.

"Oh sure you were…with your other **_floozy girlfriends_**!" She yells up at him.

Neil decides he have had enough. "Ok, you know what! I was trying to be nice about this, but now you leave me no choice. It's over! Done! Kaput! Welcome to Dumpsvile, population…_you_!" He spits out angrily. "As I said before, I'm sorry, but that's just how the cookie crumbles! Get over it, ALREADY!" As soon as he finished his speech, Neil spins around on his heels and storms off down the hall. He is so upset over the seemingly unreasonable situation that he doesn't even notice Archie and Atlanta as he passed them by.

"You'll be **_sorry_**, Neil! **_Nobody_** _dumps_ me! You hear me? NOBODY!" Stacy shrieks after him. She begins to break out in sobbing fits of tears but catches herself in time, quickly turns around and runs down the hall in the opposite direction.

Soon the hall is quiet. Baffled by what they had just witnessed, Archie and Atlanta look at each other.

"What was that all about?" Atlanta asks, blinking her eyes.

"I don't know," Archie answers, scratching his head with a befuddled expression on his face, "But, somehow, I had a feeling something had only begun to get worse. Much worse."


	5. Enter the Goddess of Vengeance

**Chapter 5: Enter the Goddess of Vengeance**

Wiping tears angrily away, Stacy storms out of New Olympia High and heads for a nearby park. Many unhappy thoughts flood her mind as she jogs down the path, passing a number of people of all ages sitting on the benches. One serious-looking lady in particular looks up from her book with an odd expression, and she watches with more than mild interest the young teenage girl striding rapidly towards the pond. Stacy doesn't care if they notice how distressed she is; she just wants to get away from the school and especially away from that conceited jerk that broke her heart. Finally, she comes to a small bridge that reaches across the pond which is in the middle of the park. With a sigh she leans over the bridge and looks into the sparkling surface of the water. The reflection of her looks sadly back at her. Feeling utterly lonely and miserable, Stacy's shoulders sags and she let out a low sob.

Meanwhile, along the opposite path on the other side of the pond, Cronus comes strolling by, keeping close to the shades of nearby trees in order to be inconspicuous. He is cursing under his breath angrily over his latest failure in overtaking the world and ruling it. There just has to be something he can do to ensure his success! But how? While he is musing over his next strategy, something catches Cronus' eye and he stops to have a look. It takes a moment for the evil god to recognize the serious-looking lady sitting on the bench across the pond. He watches, bemused, as she rises from the bench and walks quietly but purposefully, her red dress swishing, towards a distressed young girl on the bridge.

"Is that…?" He regards this woman intriguingly, "Wonder what she is doing here?"

Slipping deeper onto the shade of the trees, Cronus settles down and watches the scene with great interest.

"I sure hate to see a young girl like yourself so upset," The mysterious woman coos in a soothing voice, "What, may I ask, is troubling you so?"

Startled, Stacy turns her head quickly and looks at the newcomer with surprise. "Uh…I'd rather not talk about it." She sniffles, turning away from her.

The woman moves closer to Stacy. "Are you sure? I'm a very good listener," She murmurs softly and kindly. She leans over the same railing Stacy was resting on, turning her full attention on her to show the young teen that the woman is being sincere and genuinely caring about her.

With a deep sigh, Stacy gives in and says, "Well there is this boy I met at school…"

"Ah, a boy after your heart," the woman murmurs, nodding knowingly. "Continue…"

"Well, we went out for a while, until he decided to dump me - for no reason at all!" The young amber-hair teen growls, making a fist and shaking it in the air with frustration.

The woman leans closer toward Stacy. "What is the name of this boy you speak?" She says in a silky voice.

"_Neil_," Stacy spits out in an icy voice. "A name I wish I have never heard! _Arg,_ men make me so sick sometimes!" She pauses to think for a moment then speaks again. "No, I wish that _Neil_ would get sick, so sick that he could possibly die from it! Maybe that'll teach him to play with people's hearts!"

"Interesting…" the dark woman muses, nodding slowly. "Perhaps your wish shall come true, sooner than you think!" She smiles, and there was a malicious twinkle in her eyes. With a snap of her fingers, the woman announces, "It's done!"

"Huh?" The amber-haired girl turns around, wondering what the woman meant by that remark. But, in a blink of an eye, the woman had vanished as though into the thin air. Stacy blinks in surprise. "Where did she go?" She looks around but the mysterious newcomer is nowhere to be seen. With a sigh of defeat, Stacy goes back to looking at her reflection in the lagoon once again. "Figures, guess I am just meant to be alone…"

A low chuckle is barely audible in the trees just off side of the pond. Cronus is grinning malevolently, scarcely containing himself with excitement over the new development. "This couldn't be just a coincidence, could it?" He muses gleefully, "Is it possible that varmint member of the Titan's heroes have just sealed his own fate?" Again the evil god chuckles triumphantly at this thought while he creates his time portal. As he steps through the portal, he makes a mental note to keep an eye on Stacy - just in case she may change her mind about the request she had unwittingly made...

OoOoOoOoOoOo

**MEANWHILE…**

During the afternoon a group of teens are in training exercises, practicing and demonstrating their skills in archery, spear throws, sword and shield strategies, and martial arts moves under their mentor Aries' watchful eye. They seem to be doing very well in becoming combat-ready for future battles with the evil force…that is, except for Neil. He is standing by himself in other part of the room, struggling to master the archery. But his practicing shows signs that he is distracted more then usual. Noticing this, the God of War frowns and keeps a close eye on the young teen model. He had heard about how Neil was distracted by the incessant, unwanted phone calls in the midst of a battle just a couple of days ago. He makes a mental note to have a stern discussion with Neil on keep his mind on the battle and not his personal life.

Meanwhile, Hara, Artemis, and Hercules are watching the young heroes conduct their mock battles against each other to hone their skills. Everything appears quite normal during this exercise training.

Suddenly the double doors swing open unexpectedly and Aphrodite sweeps gracefully into the gym with a concerned look on her beautiful face. The gods turn and look at her in surprise.

"What do we owe the pleasure of your visit here, Aphrodite?" Hara asks graciously, knowing all too well that Aphrodite rarely shows up during the kids training. The Goddess of Love usually likes to spend inordinate time preening herself in her own chamber and entertaining visitors, and hardly ever go anywhere unless she has urgent errands she must do.

As it is, the lovely Goddess of Love takes a deep breath before responding. "I'm not sure," she says finally, looking somewhat anxiously, "I just feel something troubling in the air."

The gods regard her curiously, if a bit apprehensively. It is rare to see Aphrodite looking so agitated. "It's probably nothing to worry about." Hercules reassures her, trying to be as positive as he can for the concerned goddess' sake.

"You may be right, but still…" Aphrodite scans the room uneasily until her eyes fall upon Neil practicing his archery. Right away she notices that he is doing a very poor job of it. Usually his aim is quite good, but tonight he seems to be missing his target not once, not twice, but every time he draws his bow. The beautiful Goddess wrinkles her brow in concern. If anything, she knows that when Neil put forth his efforts, he would usually be better at the archery and other training activities than anyone else. However, the way Neil is behaving now, there is something wrong with him.

Archie, practicing his archery not too far from his blond teammate, notices how Neil is missing every single shot. The lavender-haired boy smirks, picks up another arrow with his left hand and places it along his bow. With an air of confidence he fires at its target and makes a perfect bull's-eye. Neil, however, pays no attention to Archie's demonstration; he is too busy focusing instead on his own target. When he misses another shot, Archie sighs and turns to look thoughtfully at Neil. "It's just not your night is it?" He finally asks.

Neil glares sharply at the descendent of Achilles, but says nothing and picks up another arrow with his right hand. _How would he know_, he thought angrily, lining the arrow up with his bow and aiming at the target, _the things I do for this team and how little appreciation I get from it_! It wasn't his intention to break up with Stacy, but his friends didn't seem to approve of him seeing her anyhow. So he had to did what he thought was best. Neil fires the arrow and his frustration grows when it misses once more.

Guessing what could be on Neil's mind; Archie sighs and looks at him regretfully. "Look Neil, I have a confession."

The blond teen is about to pick up another arrow but he pauses with his hand hovering over his quiver, and glances blankly at Archie.

Archie ducks his head briefly as though he is a little ashamed of something. "Atlanta and I saw what happened between you and Stacy earlier in the hall." He says softly.

"Oh great," Neil mutters under his breath. He turns abruptly away from Archie, grabs another arrow and attempts to fire it. At this point Neil no longer cares if his arrow reaches the target or not. He isn't surprised when the arrow missed the target yet again.

"I-I just want to say I'm sorry. These things can be very hard to deal with sometimes, and –"Archie stammers, but Neil rudely cut him off mid-sentence.

"Look, these things just happen, so forget about it, ok?" The blond teen snaps, his blue eyes flashing with anger.

Archie holds up his hands in protest. "Hey, I was just trying to be supportive! It's not like I am trying to make you feel bad or anything!" He snaps back, starting to look a bit angry.

"Less talking and more practicing, especially you Neil!" Aries bellows suddenly from across the gym. "I want you to actually hit your target at least once before the end of this afternoon's practice!"

The other kids briefly pause from their own practices to glance curiously toward the archery area. They all know Neil can be a little careless and even foolhardy, but to miss every single shot? That is unheard of. Usually with his luck Neil can easily make nine out of ten shots. But, after observing Neil's behavior just now, neither of the teammates needs Theresa's power of clairvoyance to know that something is bothering their blond friend.

Glancing at Aries, Archie shakes his head in annoyance. He likes Aries as a mentor and all, but there are times he wishes the God of War would just ease up on Neil a bit. Sighing again, Archie reaches for another arrow. Before he prepares to line it up with his bow he glances briefly at Neil, wondering how the normally sensitive blond teen reacted at being chastised by Aries. At this moment Archie notices right away the beads of perspiration trickling down the side of Neil's face. What shocked him, however, is that Neil actually does not react at all. He isn't showing signs that he cares or even notices anything out of ordinary. That is not so like him. In fact, Neil isn't looking well at all.

Now concerned, Archie lowers his bow. "Neil…?" He asks carefully, "Are you ok…? I mean, you're looking a little pale and -"

"I'm fine!" Neil shouts. He breaths out heavily as he tries to aim his arrow at the target, his hands visibly trembling. "I'm just…" He trails off; lowering his own weapon as though it has suddenly became too heavy for him. He groans softly, closes his eyes tightly and brings his right hand up to his forehead.

"Neil…!" Archie quickly drops his bow and arrow and dashes forward, reaching hurriedly out toward Neil to catch him just before the blond teen topples over.

"For crying out loud Neil, what is the matter with you? I - " Aries yells, but stops in mid-sentence when he feels the soft touch of Aphrodite's hand on his shoulder. She gives him a stern look which shut him up, and then she is running across the floor toward her beloved protégé.

At this point the other teammates realize something is definitely wrong with Neil. They quickly discard their battle weapons and rush over to see what the matter is with him.

"Neil…!" Aphrodite shouts. Once she is reaches Neil she draws him close to her. "Are you alright, darling?"

"I don't know…I just feel a little dizzy that's all." Neil mutters just loud enough for everyone around him to hear. He tries to take a step but stumbles and collapses again into the arms of Goddess of Love.

"Come with me, I think you need to lie down for a bit." Aphrodite insists, guiding him toward the doors with her arms still wrapped around him. Prying the bow loose from Neil's clenched fist, she hands it to Odie who is standing closest to her and lead the young blond man away from the rest of the people.

Bemused and a bit bewildered, Jay and the others can only watch mutely until Goddess of Love ushers Neil out of the gym. Then the somber team leader turns to Archie. "How long has he been like that?" Jay asks.

"Well, just now, basically." Archie replies with a shrug to indicate he is just as puzzled as his leader is.

"One thing's for sure, he definitely didn't look too good." Odie remarks worriedly.

"Yeah, I've seen ghosts with better complexion then Neil did walking out of here just now!" Atlanta adds, frowning slightly with some concern.

Herry scratches his head awkwardly. "I hope he'll be ok." He says quietly.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Herry," Jay answers as positively as possible, "He probably just need a little rest."

Theresa is still watching the doors where Neil and Aphrodite had exited. "I hope you are right Jay, I hope you are right…" She murmurs softly, feeling a hint of uncertainty about Neil's sudden, unexplained ailment. She doesn't say it out loud, but she senses there is something sinister about all of this.


	6. The Bad Bug

**Chapter 6: The Bad Bug**

Athena glances down at the alarm clock beside Neil's bed and lets out a deep sigh.

"Alright, let's have a look." She says, plucking the thermometer out of Neil's mouth and glancing at it. Upon seeing the result, The Goddess of War and Wisdom frowns, shakes her head and puts the thermometer away.

"Well, it's safe to say you are not going to school today!" Athena announces. At this Neil responds with a reluctant groan and flops back down on his pillow. If there is anything he hates the most, it is being sick. Before he can say anything about this, however, he goes into a spasm of dry coughs which only aggravates his already irritated and raw throat.

The short, dark-purple haired Goddess turns and she regards Neil with some concern. "It's best you stay in bed, Neil," She says in a surprisingly motherly manner, "I'll have Dionysus brew up some medicines for you."

Neil tries to reply, but instead he starts coughing once again. This is becoming a frustrating, chronic problem all morning for him. It has gotten to the point that Neil's chest feels like it is going to burst wide open. He hopes that Dionysus' medicine will be effective enough to reduce or even get rid of the persistent cough.

"Alright, I'll be back. In the meantime, try to get some rest." Athena advises. Still coughing, Neil nods once and rolls over to his side, trying to find a comfortable position that might help him breathe better. Athena gave him a quick, concerned glance and then she steps through the door and gently closes it behind her.

Heading into the kitchen just down the hallway, Athena immediately notices the rest of the dormitory residents sitting around in the living room with the worried looks on their young faces. She has a sinking feeling for she knows what they would ask.

"Athena, Neil's been coughing like that since three in the morning. Is he going to be ok?" Jay asks in concern. He is looking a bit haggard, as though he hardly slept much last night.

_As predicted. _ Athena takes a deep breath and solemnly replies, "By the looks of things, I'm afraid Neil is coming down with flu."

The teenagers seem taken aback. "The flu…? That's bad, right?" Herry inquires, scratching his head and glancing worriedly at Archie.

"I don't know about you guys", Odie says, his brow furrowing uneasily, "But just by listening to him cough, it sounds more like Neil may have bronchitis!"

Archie immediately sits up. "Correct me if I'm wrong," he protests, "But don't you guys think his illness came on all of a sudden?"

Atlanta nods in agreement. "Yeah, he was fine all day yesterday. But last night, during our training, he nearly faints. I'd say it is a bit too sudden to be normal!"

Jay is frowning. He doesn't like the sound of it…not one bit. "Athena, how serious is the flu?"

Athena lowers her eyes. She has been silently pondering on the mystery of Neil's sudden illness as well, too. In fact, it has all the Gods and Goddesses concerned. She does, however, have her suspicions of what kind of source that could be behind it, but chooses not to share them with the kids just yet.

Seeing that the Goddess of War and Wisdom has not answered Jay's question yet, the teenagers glance at each worriedly. Does that mean it is REALLY that bad? A little anxious, Jay leans forward. "Athena…?" He calls out to her, and at last the Goddess of War and Wisdom turns her head, notices the anxiety on the young teenagers' face, and tries to smile at them.

"I'm sure that once he takes proper medicine, he will be fine soon enough," she murmurs, trying to soothe their fears. Then, glancing at the clock, she blurts out, "Ah, you kids better get going or you will be late for school!"

Jay and the others remain where they are, not willing to move just yet. For a moment they simply gaze at her, but they do not saying anything. They can tell she is hiding something and want to know what it is. But before any of them can open their mouth to utter one word, the loud whooping coughs reverberate from down the hallway. Their level of anxiety increased, and they glance at each other then look back at their Dorm Guardian.

Athena sighs. "Don't worry, I'll look after him. Just go!" She assures them, shooing them away with her hands before they even ask her anything. Quickly and firmly, she ushers the protesting teenagers out through the front door and closes it behind them.

Grumbling unhappily, the teenagers walk away from the dorm, heading for Herry's truck parked outside in the ally. Jay is especially aggravated. "Is it just me, or does there seem like something is not right about any of this?" The young team leader gripes to the others. Theresa nods somberly in response.

"I think you could be right, Jay." The strawberry-blond girl says quietly.

There is nothing the young heroes could do anything about it, though. Quietly they pile into Herry's truck, with the brawny teen at the wheel. With one turn of the ignition, they are off to school.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Five days have passed and Neil still sounds like he hacking up a lung. Not only has Neil been getting worse each day, but the team has noticed that their blond friend has not been eating anything since the day he was first sick. This is not good. There's no sign he is going to get better any time soon. Considering how he has been sounding worse lately, the kids wish they could do something to help but they know that the flu needs to run its course. They miss having him with them, and hope the flu clears up as soon as possible so Neil can return to training with the team once again.

One thing they had noticed is how lucky they've been so far. That is, there has hardly any life-threatening trouble coming up that they have to deal with, especially from Cronus. This is somewhat puzzling…Cronus has been unusually quiet since the night he tried the second time to get his hand-made time machine going. Usually by now the God of Time would be going around stirring up headache-inducing trouble for them. Instead, the young heroes heard absolutely nothing from him for days. Very puzzling indeed…

Nevertheless, one clear morning the six teens are sitting in the kitchen - Herry, Theresa, and Jay at the table, while Archie, Atlanta, and Odie sat at the island counter - eating their breakfast. It would soon be time to go to school. As they are finishing up they hear a familiar fit of coughing coming their way.

"Oh man. Here we go again…" Archie groans, although not too unkindly. His patience can only go so far. Jay looks at him sharply.

"Chill it, Archie. Why don't we try to be more supportive, ok?" The team leader chides, and Archie looks down, chastened.

Suddenly Theresa, who is facing the kitchen door, sits straight up and her eyes widened. "Jay…." She whispers hoarsely at her boyfriend, "Neil's here!"

The young teenagers all turn around and gawk in astonishment as Neil comes stumbling in through the door. He stops and leans against the door frame, taking a moment to catch his breath, only to be interrupted by a fit of loud coughing. His skin appears pale and clammy with dark circles under his eyes. The blond teen's usually perfect blond hair is unkempt. Beads of sweat trickle down his forehead and sides of his face. With one hand, Neil clasps at his white house coat at his chest while trying to cover his mouth with the other hand as he coughs. His legs are trembling a little; it appears as though he can easily topple over any second.

His stunned friends stare at him, speechless for a moment or two. Then Theresa clears her throat and decides to speak up. "Morning, Neil," She chirps brightly in a hopeful voice, "Are you feeling better yet?"

It is probably not the right thing to ask of an obviously sick person, and her friends glance at her oddly. But the dazed Neil mumbles only, "Huh?" and peer around the kitchen, trying to see who it is that has spoken to him. Theresa raises one eyebrow and shakes her head, grimacing. "I guess not," she murmurs to no one in particular.

"Um…Neil, shouldn't you be in bed?" Odie says tentatively, looking at him with concern. "If Athena sees you traipsing around here like this, she'll blow a gasket!"

Neil shakes his head. Noticing an empty chair in front of him, the blond teen takes two steps and plops heavily onto it. Unfortunately for him, just sitting down does not really stop the room from spinning. His legs and arms are still trembling noticeably. Neil groans softly and leans over the table with his elbows on the table, resting his head on his open hands as the migraine takes over. After a moment or two he finally sighs and says through his clenched teeth to his concerned teammates.

"I hate this…I can't be sick, you guys need me!" Neil says, panting heavily, "What if Cronus attacks? The prophecy says seven heroes, not six will defeat him…how can there be seven if I'm sick in bed?"

"Wow, Neil, you really must be sick…that's the first time you made the most sense!" Herry says in a half serious, half joking manner.

"Well, it's true…" Neil whines, "I just feel terrible."

Archie smirks. "Gee Neil; you act as if you've never been sick before!"

Slowly Neil raises his one eyebrow and, slowly opening his eyes, he lifts his head to glare at his friend with the purple mullet. "That's real funny, coming from you!" he grunts.

"Hate to say it, Arch, but Neil's got a point…Mr. 'I've never been sick a day in my life'!" Atlanta chuckles.

"Hey, guys, that's enough!" Jay says loudly, looking very annoyed. "Give Neil a break, will you?" Both Archie and Atlanta frowns at their leader, but the expression on Jay's face soon convinces them to quit teasing Neil for time being.

As the silence drags on, Odie clears his throat. "Uh, say Neil… Are you hungry? Maybe we can get you something to eat now?" The young genius asks gingerly.

Neil makes a face in disgust. The very thought of food makes him nauseous. The room seems to spin even more, causing him to wobble in his chair as he continues to clutch his head with his hands. Slowly Neil lifts his head slightly to glance at his friends. His face turns to a look of confusion and he draws away from his friends, glaring suspiciously at them who look back at him in bewilderment.

"What are you guys doing in my room?" He demands in a harsh voice.

His friends stare at him in stunned shock. "Uh, Neil…you're in the kitchen," Jay reminds him gently.

"What…?" Neil cries in disbelief. He takes a quick glance around him, blinks and looks even more confused. "How did I get down here?"

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you walked down…" Theresa points out.

"I don't remember doing that." Neil shakes his head slowly. Just then he starts coughing again, more loudly than before.

Athena comes hurrying into the kitchen and, upon seeing Neil sitting at the table struggling to not fall out of the chair with his nasty cough, she frowns severely.

"Neil, I swear I'm so close to putting a lock on your door so you won't keep wandering out!" The Goddess growls in frustration, striding toward the blond teen and putting her hand on his shoulder. "You know very well you are not supposed to be out of the bed!"

The blond teen manages to stop coughing just long enough to glance up sheepishly at Athena. "I don't feel well," he says with a sad pout.

With an exasperated sigh, Athena shakes her head although her face softens considerably. "Come on Neil," she replies sweetly to the sick teen, "you need to get back to bed right away." So saying, she gently lifts Neil up from his seat and starts guiding him back to his room.

Neil tries to protest. "But, I'm fine Athena! I-I just need to walk this off and I'll be as good as new!" He is trying to be assertive, wanting to sound robust - but his voice comes out sounding whiny instead. Unimpressed, the Goddess of War only raises one eyebrow at him.

"Well, why don't you 'walk this off' back to your bed then…?" Athena replies, trying to hide a smirk on her face.

As soon as Neil and Athena are out of the kitchen, all six teens start laughing. They can't help it. Even though they know he positively hates to be seen as weak, it is still funny to see Neil try to buff his way out of about any situation he finds disagreeable. Neil always tends to do that.

"C-come on guys, that isn't funny." Jay splutters, trying to compose himself but failing miserably as he breaks out again in laughter.

Finally after a moment the six teens manages to stop laughing. Somber now, they reflect on their sick friend's condition.

"You know, I think Neil has gotten even worse since last night." Odie says, scratching his head thoughtfully.

"Yeah, last night he didn't seem as confused when he spoke to us as he did just now." Theresa agrees with a worried look.

Herry's head bobs up and down. "Yeah, that is just weird. I've never seen anyone that sick before!"

For a moment Jay silently sits there, his fingers drumming on the table and his brow furrowing pensively. Then, abruptly, he stands up. "Come on you guys. I think we should go talk to Hera about this!" Jay announces and so saying, he walks briskly out of the kitchen with the others following behind him.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Within ten minutes the kids arrive at the school. Even though they know they are supposed to go to their morning class like they should, they instead head straight to the janitor's closet. After checking to see that the coast is clear, Jay pulls out his amulet and places it in the key slot. The dial turns, unlocking the door open.

Quickly they hurry down the main entrance and into Hera's Aviary Room. To their relief she is sitting behind the desk, talking quietly with Neil's mentor, Aphrodite who was also seated facing her. The aging Goddess is looking rather perturbed about something.

"Aphrodite…?" Theresa blurts out in surprise. It is not often the Goddess of Love makes an appearance anywhere outside of her room.

Hera's head turns around and, upon seeing her guests, her lips curl up slightly. "Children, I'm glad you are here. I was about to call for you!" Hera declares, standing up from her seat behind the desk. "Please, sit down."

"Does this have to do with Neil being so sick?" Jay inquires.

"In fact, it does." Hera nods affirmatively, "We feel that Neil may have been cursed."

"Cursed…?" Atlanta echoes in surprise. "You're kidding, right?"

Now Hera looks somber and serious. "I'm afraid not, Atlanta. Do sit down, and I'll tell you why."

The young teens look at each other and obediently took their seats before her. Hera gazes silently at them for a moment and then continues. "You are all aware of Neil's ancestor, Narcissus and how he was cursed in falling in love with his own reflection. Well, we feel this could be a similar situation."

"I don't understand," Herry says with a confused frown, "What does Narcissus's curse have to do with Neil being sick?"

Aphrodite turns to face them, looking serious as well. "I am sure you all know how Narcissus, being a beautiful boy, made it easy for almost everyone to fall in love with him," The Goddess of Love explains, "Over the years he has broken so many hearts, until one day one of the young girls have had enough and wished for a curse to be placed on him. Nemesis was the Goddess who answered her call."

Jay's jaw drops. "Wait…Nemesis? You mean, the Goddess of Vengeance…?"

As Hera nods, Jay inhaled sharply and sits back, but does not say another word. In his mind, the pieces are starting to fall into place and he is beginning to have grasped what it could have meant for Neil. "So Neil is cursed. But how…?"

Unexpectedly, Aphrodite is pleading, her hands clasped together as though in prayer. "Tell me, has Neil argued with anyone, or had some sort of confrontation that would want that person wish something bad onto him?" Her eyes are full of anguish as she looks at the teens. "How can anyone hurt my dear Neil? Who…?"

The teenagers shift in their seats uncomfortably, having no idea what to answer her. Indeed, who would Neil be quarreling with? They could not think of anyone who would be having such disagreement with Neil enough to put a curse on him.

Suddenly both Archie and Atlanta gasp, sit straight up and look quickly at each other. They have just remembered an incident that happened just an hour before Neil mysteriously became sick.

"Uh-oh," Archie mutters in a barely audible voice. At once all the eyes are upon him. Hera is looking sharply at him.

"What is it, Archie?" Hera demands, walking slowly toward the young warrior.

After some fumbling and trying to remember exactly how it happens, Archie begins to explain to his attentive audience. "Well, Atlanta and I just happened to be walking down the hall at the school the day Neil got sick when we over heard him and Stacy fighting over something."

"We think he may have broken up with her. She didn't take it well. From what we saw, she ran out of the school crying, but not before telling Neil that he'd be sorry for dumping her." Atlanta finishes.

Theresa leans forward. "…She must have somehow ran into Nemesis and wished for Neil to become sick then." She deduces, looking worried now.

An unpleasant thought occurs to Jay and he quickly speaks up. "Wait a minute," Jay says, "Doesn't Nemesis put vengeful curses on people that usually end up making things even worse?"

Odie nods in agreement. "That could explain why Neil is very ill. I mean, not only has he shown symptoms of the flu, bronchitis, but pneumonia and other more serious flues. He just keeps getting worse everyday." He declares.

"Precisely my point, Odie," Hera says, moving back to her desk. Now that she has all the attention on her, she looks even more grave. "What needs to be done is to go talk to Stacy and ask her to take back her wish. Only then will Nemesis undo Neil's curse. If we fail to do this, his health will just keep getting worse until his body will not be able to fight the germs any longer."

"You mean he could…" Atlanta trails off, unable to finish her question. She doesn't need to. Everyone realizes now what the outcome could be if nothing is done immediately.

"There isn't much time, children," Hera says with a quiet nod, "I believe Stacy will be changing classes soon. You can catch her at her locker."

"Right," Jay agrees. Filled with resolute, he stands up quickly and looks at his teammates. "Come on guys, let's go and find Stacy as soon as possible!"


	7. Convincing Stacy

**Chapter 7: Convincing Stacy**

Jay and his friends leave the janitor's closet just as the bell goes off, signaling the end of first period. Suddenly, as though on cue, students come pouring out of the classrooms into the hallway. As the six teammates jostle their way through the thronging crowd, they turn the corner and instantly spot Stacy at her locker. She is just opening it in order to retrieve her other books for the next class.

"There she is. Come on." Jay whispers to his friends. So saying, he leads them down the hall until they reach Stacy. At first she does not notice them, and one of the teammates, Theresa, steps forward and clears her throat.

"Hey, Stacy," the long redheaded girl chirps cheerfully as a way of greeting, "How are you doing?"

Hearing someone calling her name, Stacy is startled and turns quickly around to see who it is. Upon seeing the young heroes, she recognizes them right away and frowns.

"Oh hi, it's you." Stacy says with a tired sigh. Jay is about to say something but Neil's former girlfriend turns her back abruptly on him and his friends, grab the rest of her textbooks, and stuffs them inside her backpack silently. After a while she looks up and realizes they have not left her alone. Now she is looking irritated. "What do you want?" She says rudely, turning away once again.

"Well, ah…you see…it's not easy to explain so we are just going to say it." Jay stutters, scratching the back of his head nervously. Stacy glances over her shoulder at him, raising one eyebrow in mild interest.

Jay clears his throat before continuing. "Um, you may have noticed that Neil hasn't been at school for almost a week now…"

"Oh really. And you think I hadn't really noticed, do you?" Stacy snaps at him angrily. "I've been too busy, you know, picking up pieces of my broken heart!"

Theresa looks at her sadly. "Look, we understand how you feel," she says in a gentle voice, "Neil is our friend, though, he became very sick the same day you two broke up."

"So…? It's suddenly my fault he's sick?" She spins around to face the young teenagers squarely. "To bring you up on current events, Neil broke up with me! If you ask me, hearing him getting a cold is just Karma's way of getting back at him!"

"Well, that's the thing…He doesn't just have a cold. It's a combination of different kinds of flu, pneumonia, and bronchitis…uh…" Odie tries to explain, but his voice trails off when he saw Stacy's exasperated expression on her face.

"Again, what does this have to do with me?" Stacy explodes. "Don't get me wrong. On one hand, I do feel bad that he is that sick, but on the other…I just don't care! He hurt me; perhaps he will learn not to hurt anyone else after this!"

"Look, girl, we believe he may have been cursed," Atlanta shoots back, her temper flaring up, "…by you!"

Stacy stares at her. "What? You think I put a curse on him?" She exclaims angrily.

"Well, perhaps not intentionally." Herry replies in a sheepish voice.

Stacy shakes her head rapidly, becoming very upset over this conversation. "What are you _freaks_ talking about?" The teen girl cries out, waving her arms in frustration.

"_Freaks…?_" Atlanta growls, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

Archie quickly steps up and places a calming hand on his hot-tempered teammate's shoulder. He says, looking steadily at Stacy, "Ah, what we are trying to get at is that if you just happened to talk to anyone…" he fumbles for a moment, "…like, say, a strange looking woman or something, about your break up with Neil?"

At this Stacy seems to do a double take. Now she is staring suspiciously at the young heroes. "Are you guys fallowing me? Keeping tabs on who I talk to?"

Herry looks at his friends. "Perhaps we could take that as a yes…?" He says, scratching his head. Jay steps forward and takes a deep breath.

"Stacy, listen, we are not here to attack or accuse you," Jay says, holding his hand up as though to placate Stacy, "We just want to say that if you did talk to a strange woman, you may probably have said something that caused this person to put a curse on our friend."

Stacy raises her eyebrow skeptically, then shakes her head slowly and lets out a chuckle.

"You guys are crazy. That's all I got to say!" The teen girl waves off the young heroes and starts to walk away without looking backward. She manages to take two steps, however, before Theresa's voice stops her.

"Stacy, wait!" Theresa cries. She strides over to Stacy and turns to confront her, looking at her face to face. "This is important. Neil is…" The strawberry-blond heroine tries to find the right words to explain, "…well, ah, sort of special to us."

"Why…?" Stacy glares at Theresa, "Are you dating him, too?"

"What…? No…!" Theresa blushes with embarrassment, and takes two steps back. She glances up at Jay briefly before look back at Stacy.

"Oh please, don't tell me you haven't fallen for his charm and appeal!" Stacy bursts out. "I-I-I mean, who's to say maybe that redhead shrew here is dating him as well?" She jerks her thumb in Atlanta's direction and continues on a frantic, jealous manner. "Maybe every girl in this school is or has dated him at one point!"

"Shrew?" Atlanta mutters under her breath. With his hand still resting on her shoulder, Archie snorts loudly. "Heh, trust me. Neil really isn't the type to be dating much," he says with a smirk, "Let's just say he is too involved with himself to be dating many girls."

Just then the bell goes off, alerting the young teenagers that the next class is about ready to begin.

"I have to go," The amber-haired young teen growls, backing slowly away from the six teen heroes. "You guys are a little too weird for me!"

"Gee, that went well…" Archie groans, watching Neil's only chance to survive his mysterious illness runs off to her next class.

Herry shrugs and glances at Jay. "Now what do we do?"

Jay runs his hand through his hair, looks at his teammates and tries to act hopeful. "For Neil's sake, we can't give up!" the team leader declares encouragingly, "We'll try talking to her again during lunch hour. That will give us more time to figure out how to explain the situation we are in without giving out too much information about the Gods!"

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Stacy is sitting alone at a table near the corner of the cafeteria. Still being somewhat new to the school, she had not made many friends at Olympus High. Sighing, she starts eating her sandwich slowly and at the same studying her history book for a test she will be taking later in the afternoon. Suddenly she notices six shadows moving across the pages and looks up. She immediately frowns as soon as she realizes who they are.

"Ah, geez…" Stacy groans with annoyance. "You guys again? What do you want from me?"

"Stacy," Jay sits down on the other table across from the young teenage girl and looks at her apologetically. "We just want to apologize for the way we came at you earlier."

Stacy sighs and rolls her eyes skyward. . "I'm sure you are," She says sarcastically. She points down at her text book, "Now if you don't mind, I have to study for a history test!"

Theresa takes the seat next to Jay. "Look, Stacy, you may not realize it, but Neil is really sick and we could really use your help." The redheaded girl says pleadingly.

"What do you want _me_ to do? Make him some chicken soup?" Stacy spits angrily at her, "If you ask me, Neil got what he deserves! He was a major jerk to me!"

"Don't forget annoying at times too." Herry adds, not being able to resist.

Odie rolls his eyes and slaps his forehead with his hand. "Herry, you're not helping!"

Now Atlanta moves forward and fixes her eyes on Stacy. "Believe me, Stacy, under any other circumstances I would agree with you. But in this case...well…" she trails off, unable to figure out the right words to explain any further.

Jay takes a breath and decides for once to stop beating around the bush and gets to the point. "I guess what we are trying to say is have you heard of…Nemesis?"

Stacy stares blankly at him. "Who…?"

"She's the Goddess of Vengeance." Odie replies, pushing his glasses further up his nose.

Confused now, Stacy shakes her head at the dark skinned teen. "What does this have to do with Neil being sick, again?" She asks, waving her hand impatiently in a circle to indicate she wishes for this conversation to get to a point so.

Jay leans forward and says carefully, "We believe you may have spoken to Nemesis and may have unintentionally wished Neil to become sick."

Stacy slams her textbook down on the table with a loud thud, making the other teenagers jump a little. "You guys are crazy, you know that, right?" Stacy snaps angrily.

Archie tries to soothe things over. "Look, Stacy, we just want you to try contacting Nemesis again and ask her to take back your wish, so Neil can start getting better." He asks as politely as he can.

At this point, Stacy leans back, feeling as though she is being cornered and bullied by her former boyfriend's friends. She shakes her head again, not believing what she is hearing. "Tell you what," she begins with a snarl as she stands abruptly from her seat and grabs her books and her lunch bag, "I'll think about it."

Before anyone else could open their mouth to say something, Stacy storms away. The gang watches her go, completely at a loss now. They glance at each other, feeling as though they had lost a battle with Cronus. Jay is especially crestfallen, but he has not given up hope…not yet! Somehow, he vows silently, they must convince Stacy to get in touch with Nemesis in hopes Neil could get better and be a part of the team again as before...

OoOoOoOoOoOo

It looks as though the team's luck has run out. For the rest of the day Stacy has been deliberately avoiding them at all costs. No matter what, they can not get hold of her in order to try and convince her to help Neil. Feeling discouraged now, Jay and the others shuffle in though the front door of the dormitory after the school, their shoulders sagging low. To their surprise they are greeted in the main hallway by a familiar figure which is none other than Hera, the Queen of the Gods herself.

"Hera…?" Jay gasps, startled at the unexpected sight of her.

Just by looking at the expression on the Goddess' face, Theresa can sense something is up. "What is it?" She asks tentatively.

Hera sighs deeply. "I'm afraid Neil is getting worse, children. At the rate he may not have much time." She says with a hint of regret. She watches as the young heroes' faces fall at the grim news. "Did you get to talk to Stacy?"

"Yeah," Archie sighs. "But she didn't believe us."

"In fact, she is now avoiding us!" Atlanta huffs, crossing her arms and frowning crossly.

Hera shakes her head in disappointment. "Then there is a problem." She says quietly. So saying, she turns around and walks slowly upstairs.


	8. Cronus Attacks

**Chapter 8: Cronus Attacks**

Feeling very annoyed, Stacy walks briskly through the park on her way home from school. Having met Neil's friends earlier this afternoon Stacy is none too impressed with them, particularly the way they sort of "ganged up" on her - and is even more aggravated by their suggestions she could be the one responsible for putting a "curse" on Neil and making him sick!

"Why is everyone against me all of a sudden?" She gripes to nobody in particularly. "I just wanted them to leave me alone!"

The amber-haired girl is so wrapped up in her thoughts she doesn't see a tall dark man strolling down the path toward her, nor notices him grinning at her as she passes him by. "Well, well," Cronus chuckles softly to himself. He slows to a stop and listens with great interest in what she is muttering to herself.

"I mean, I did nothing wrong here…I'm the victim, not the jerk who thought only of himself!" Stacy says disgustedly. She stops in the middle of the small bridge over the pond and looks down at her reflection in the water. With a heavy sigh, she continues, "What is wrong with me? So much for starting a new life in a new town… I though by meeting Neil that'd he'd be different!" Stacy's eyebrows lower at the thought of how he dumped her. "But he's just like the others. They all do nothing but use me then throw me away like I'm some piece of trash! Men…they are complete rats!"

"Aren't they all like that though?"

The sound of a deep, dark voice speaking to her from behind startles Stacy. She yelps, spinning around to see who is it that dares to sneak up on her. Standing before her is a tall, broad-shouldered stranger in a dark business suit grinning down at her with great amusement. She steps backward a pace, looking at him a bit warily.

The man holds up his hands as though to assure her he meant her no harm. "I'm sorry for startling you, my dear. I just happened to be walking by," he says in a sincere-sounding voice, "and overheard you talking to yourself!"

Stacy's face crumples. "Great," she sniffles, turning halfway away from him, "You probably think I'm crazy or something!"

"Oh, not at all!" the stranger quickly reassures her, "For you see, I myself tend to do just that, thinking out loud as well!"

"I see," Stacy turns again and sulks down at her reflection in the water, "It's good to know I'm not the only crazy person on this bridge!"

Cronus frowns with irritation at the young teen girl's snide comment, but decides to shake it off as he has other plans on how to handle her. He sidles up to her and murmurs in a kindly tone, "How about if we go for a walk? You can tell me everything that is troubling you." The dark Time God offers.

Again Stacy eyes him warily. He sounds pleasant and sympathetic, but…. "I don't know. The last time a total stranger came to me and offered to listen to my problems," She replies with a pout. "And she just decided to disappear without so much as a goodbye!"

Cronus nods to show he understands. "I assure you I am not that rude. I will be more than happy to listen, and I promise I won't leave you just like that!" He holds out his hand in a gesture of friendship and trust to the young attractive girl. "Shall we go for a stroll, then?"

Stacy stares at the proffered hand and frowns slightly. For some reason she has a bad feeling about this dark man. She knows she is not to trust strangers, and this person is definitely strange. But then again, she needs someone to listen to her, someone to talk with…about right now. Against her better judgment, Stacy begins walking along with Cronus. Unbeknownst to her, however, the evil Cronus is quietly leading her to a secluded spot where there will be no witnesses.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Jay sighs and leans up against the door frame of Neil's bedroom, watching absently as Aphrodite dabs a cool damp cloth on the blond teen's forehead in hopes it would bring down his temperature. Athena and Hera are standing off to the side of the room, observing Neil's condition and consulting gravely with each other concerning him.

Suddenly an unexpected newcomer appears right out of nowhere in the middle of the room, as though descending out of the sky. Without a preamble the visitor walks purposefully across the room to Aphrodite and speaks quietly to her, asking for her permission to sit next to Neil. To Jay's surprise, the visitor turns out to be no other than Echo herself. He blinks, for he had not expected her to make an appearance, and concluded that even though she is no longer enamored with Neil, Echo still has a soft spot for him.

When Aphrodite inclines her head once, giving her consent, the normally talkative nymph takes Neil's clammy hand in hers and sits quietly right next to his bed, not uttering even one word. The other two nymphs who work for Aphrodite are also sitting at the end of the bed, their tears streaming down their faces as they gaze sorrowfully at the semi-unconscious boy lying motionless beneath the blankets. Every so often Neil would let out a soft groan, even an occasional cough, but he is too sick and weak to open his eyes and speak to anyone.

Just then Jay hears footsteps behind him. Looking over his shoulder, Jay sees Herry approaching him from the stairs facing Neil's door. He looks past Herry and finds the rest of teammates – except for Odie - still sitting up and down the stairs, watching him expectantly. For some reason Jay smiles inward to himself; he finds it almost typical that Neil would still attract attention from about anyone even though he is confined to bed; totally oblivious to what is going on around him.

"Hey, Jay. How's Neil doing?" Herry inquires as soon as he reaches the young leader.

Jay tilts his head in the direction of the bed where Neil is lying. "You can see for yourself," he replies.

Curious, the brawny teen peers around the team leader into the room. When he notices Echo hovering over Neil, his eyebrows shoot up to his hairline in surprise. Shaking his head slowly, Herry turns to Jay with a questioning look on his face. "I don't get it. I thought Echo dumped Neil?" He asks.

Jay shrugs and turns to look at Herry. "Just because she dumped him, Herry, it doesn't mean she can't still care about him," He answers him quietly.

"Oh," Flustered, Herry bowed his head in embarrassment. Jay glances at Neil one more time, then claps his hand on Herry's broad shoulder. "Come on, let's leave Neil alone for now." With that, the young leader closes the door and turns around to look at the team mates on the stairs.

"Where's Odie?" Jay asks.

"He went down to his room a while ago, Jay. He said he had to do some serious thinking." Theresa answers promptly.

By looking at their faces, Jay can tell they all feel as bad as he does about Neil. He lets out a remorseful sigh and leans against the wall next to Neil's door. For a few moments nobody says anything as they contemplate gloomily the fact Neil may possibly be dying. The thought they might lose Neil any time is unbearable.

"This sucks!" Atlanta finally blurts out. Archie and Herry both nod in agreement. Indeed, they all feel so helpless…what can they do to save Neil's life?

Suddenly, Theresa lets out a loud gasp, and the teammates turn quickly to her. Theresa's eyes are unfocused, staring into nothing in particular. They recognize immediately the signs indicating she is having a psychic vision of some kind. As they wait, watching her anxiously, Jay leans toward her.

"Theresa…?" He whispers. Theresa blinks and looks directly at him, distress written all over her face.

"Jay, I saw Stacy…and _Cronus_. I think she could be in danger!" The clairvoyant teen announces agitatedly.

"What?" Jay exclaims, startled. "You know where they are, Theresa?" .

The red-haired girl nods. "Yes, they are somewhere in the park about five blocks away. I'll show you where!" She replies confidently.

"Then we haven't a moment to lose!" the team leader declares, straightening up, "Archie, you go get Odie, we'll meet you at Herry's truck."

"Right…!" Archie nods and takes off scurrying down a fleet of stairs towards the basement suite where Odie lives. Jay turns to the rest of his teammates.

"All right, let's go!" Jay commands, and with that he rushes off down the stairs to the entrance door with his friends hurrying after him.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

In his basement suite Odie slouches in his chair in front of his computer, sulking. Usually in the past he would be spending time surfing on the internet, or playing one of his computer games - that would take his mind off any stressful situation he was in. Not this time. There is a strong chance that he may be losing one of his best friends, and it is tearing him up inside. It can't end like this! No matter how exasperating Neil can be from time to time, he is still a loyal friend and a valuable part of the team. How can they go on if Neil dies?

Depressed, Odie stares blankly at the black screen on his computer monitor, waiting desperately for an idea - ANY idea, no matter how insignificant - that might pop up in his mind that could save Neil's life. But nothing comes up.

Just then his eye catches something standing at the end of his desk. Moving his papers aside, Odie can see it is a polished, framed object. With a sad sigh he pulls it out and studies the tiny bronzed toy squirt gun embedded in the frame - a Christmas gift Neil had gave to Odie a few months ago. As he gazes at it, a memory from a few months ago comes filtering into his mind….

"_Have you ever fired one of these babies?" Neil asks._

"_It's a water pistil, Neil; I think I can figure it out." Odie replies._

"_Good," the blond grins as he gives his much larger squirt gun a quick pump. "Lock and load!"_

With a smirk, Odie shakes his head and chuckles softly. "Lock and load," he murmurs absently with a faint smile. He rubs his fingers slowly over the tiny bronzed squirt gun. "Still can't believe he bronzed a plastic squirt gun and framed it… Guess in his own special way, he does show he cares about us."

But as he continues looking down at his Christmas gift, the young genius feels incredibly guilty for not appreciating Neil's present. It is too late to do anything about it, though. Sighing regretfully, Odie puts the framed object back in its place. But instead of burying it under his papers, he leaves it standing up where it can be more easily visible and sits back to gaze thoughtfully at it for some time….

"Odie!" Archie yells, throwing the door wide open and barging into the room.

Odie nearly jumps out of his skin and spins around to stare in astonishment at his warrior friend. "Archie! What's the matter?"

"Stacy is in trouble! We've got to go rescue her from Cronus!"

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"…And so now his friends are attacking me and telling me it's my fault he is so sick!" Stacy is fuming angrily as she walks through the more quiet part of the park with Cronus listening quietly besides her, nodding sympathetically from time to time

The truth is Cronus is actually enjoying the young teen's story. He chuckles inwardly when Stacy sarcastically describes the desperate expressions on the faces of Jay and the others. It sounds like there is nothing the young heroes could do to save their friend's life, and Cronus is practically beside himself with pure glee. However, when he turns to speaks to Stacy, he looks at her with a neutral face.

"It is a shame how some teens these days don't respect other people," He comments smoothly, shaking his head and making tut-tutting sounds, "Especially this Neil person, he most certainly sounds like a real jerk for the way he treated you!"

"I just don't get it. What makes Neil so special anyway?" Stacy cries out in frustration, waving her arms, "Why is it important whether he lives, or if he dies?"

The dark man pauses and gazes steadily at her. "Actually, my dear, I would prefer if that annoying brat dies." Cronus replies quietly in a voice that turns suddenly cold and cruel.

Shocked, Stacy freezes and her eyes widens. "Huh…?" A sudden chill runs down the amber-haired teen's back. An eerie feeling comes over her as she slowly turns to face the dark stranger. His face, once seemingly kind and sympathetic, is now hard and ruthless with no trace of compassion whatsoever, and his eyes glitters maliciously. Suddenly nervous, Stacy swallows a large lump that has formed in her throat. "W-what do you mean…"

Cronus sneers. "I am, of course, referring to Neil and the six kids you just mentioned," he answers, "They've all been thorns in my side for some time now. How I've dreamed of this moment, and it's all thanks to you!"

Stacy gapes at him. "I-I-I don't understand…what do you want with me?" Cronus does not answer; he just smirks at her. Realizing belatedly that she should have paid attention to her initial sense of warning concerning the mysterious and unexpectedly menacing stranger, Stacy starts to back slowly away from him.

"What I want from you…" Cronus flashes her an evil grin; one of his razor-sharp golden scythes materializes into his hand and he starts walking toward her, "is to make sure you will never get the chance to take back your wish!"

It is at this moment that Stacy realizes her life is truly in danger, especially when she gets a good look into his eyes and sees the pure hatred behind his red glare.


	9. The Rescue

**Chapter 9: The Rescue**

Slamming on his brakes and causing the tires to squeal loudly, Herry makes an imperfect job of taking over two and a half empty parking spaces for his truck beside the public park. The door slides open and the six heroes quickly leap out, their eyes scanning around the area anxiously for any signs of Cronus or Stacy.

"Theresa, do you sense anything…?" Jay asks his clairvoyant girlfriend urgently when he notices her stopping almost immediately in her tracks and lowering her head with an intense, inward look in her face.

"Give me a sec, Jay!" Theresa holds up her hand and closes her eyes, her forehead furrowing in concentration.

"We may not even have a second!" Archie stresses impatiently but with some anxiety in his voice.

Finally, Theresa opens her eyes and looks up. "Over there, beyond the bridge across the pond!" She announces, pointing in direction of the wooded area of the park toward the setting sun. The bridge can be seen about a mile away. Jay looks at Archie and Atlanta and nods grimly toward them.

"Let's go!" Jay orders. Atlanta and Archie do not need to be told twice. Priding on being the fastest runners in entire high school, they speed away in an instant, kicking up small clouds of dirt behind them as they race toward the destination Theresa had indicated. They are just crossing the bridge when Stacy's scream echoes though the trees. The young warrior pair pauses and glances quickly at each other.

"Let's move, Arch!" Atlanta snaps. Before Archie can respond, she darts away, three knots faster than her teammate, and vanishes into the wooded area.

Muttering to himself, Archie pulls out his Hephaestus whip in preparation for battle as he struggles to catch up with the fiery redhead.

As they zig-zag at top speed among trees and leap over the hedge, Archie and Atlanta burst into a small clearing just in time to see Cronus raising his golden scythe high above his head, ready to strike down on a wide-eyed, petrified Stacy. Thanking his lucky stars he had thought to pulling his whip out moments ago, Archie skids to a stop and without wasting a second he swings the whip toward the evil God. The hooked end whistles through the air and manages to snag the scythe. Archie yanks hard, and Cronus shouts out in surprise as his scythe jerks back, long enough for Atlanta to rush at Stacy and knocks her out of the harm's way.

The second Stacy hits the ground a few of her personal items come flying out of her small purse, including a familiar golden mirror case with an engraved 'N' on top of it. Atlanta doesn't have time to ask if the amber-haired teen is alright. The hot-tempered warrior jumps up and looks Cronus squarely in the eye, ready to take him on by herself. "You're going down, Cronus!" She taunts him, her eyes flashing.

Snarling angrily, Cronus' glare swings from her to Archie and back, totally forgetting Stacy now. After a few tense moments, his eyes narrows and his face twists into a baleful sneer. "Oh, I don't think so," he replies with an evil, mocking laughter, "You should remember the prophecy, there needs to be seven of you to defeat me and I only see two of you. Not only that, but one of you is away because he's ill!"

"I wouldn't count your chickens before they hatch, Cronus!" Jay bellows out as he and the others arrive almost immediately in the secluded meadow, gripping his xiphos tightly in his hand.

Right next to Jay Theresa takes one step toward Cronus, spinning a pair of nunchucks in a cheeky manner, indicating she is ready to fight. Herry and Odie stand on either side of Theresa and Jay in a battle stance.

Cronus spins around and stares at them, scowling. Then he smirks. "This should be interesting…" Cronus murmurs as the second scythe begins to materialize in his other hand.

Jay rushes forward then, lifting his xiphos to deliver the first strike. Cronus reacts quickly by bringing one of his scythes up to counteract the incoming attack. Both Jay's xiphos and Cronus' scythe clash loudly against each other, the golden light flashing upon impact. The other teen heroes wait anxiously for their moment to attack the evil God without harming their team leader.

For a minute or two Stacy lay stunned on the ground, hearing the shouts and noises barely a few feet away. Finally she gathers courage to sit up to watch the battle scene before her. She recognized the teens; they are the same ones who had harassed her about Neil. She frowns. Why are they fighting this strange man who had tried to kill her moments ago? And as for the mysterious man…she's still trying to get past the fact that this tall, dark God-like man can materialize weapons in front of her just by thinking about it. She shivers, realizing just how close she came to being killed on the spot. And those six friends of her former boyfriend are risking their very lives to fight the murderous man to save her from him…but why? Especially when Stacy had been so rude to them and made it clear that she would have nothing to do with them, nor has shown any sympathy for the sick Neil! Feeling sudden pangs of guilt, Stacy flushes and looks down for a moment.

When she looks up, she squints through the blinding rays of the setting sun at the confusing confrontation between the young heroes and the tall, dark man. Stacy can't see much, but from what she can see is that the young heroes are not doing so well. Basically the only thing she can make out is the dark tall man grabbing Theresa's nunchucks and throwing her into a nearby bush, taking Odie with her. To her utter amazement, Stacy stares, gawking as Herry single-handedly picks up a large heavy rock half the size of him and tosses at the God. Cronus merely sneers and concentrate, apparently using his telepathy power to halt the it in mid air and flings it back at Herry, causing the brawn teen to jump out of the way before the rock could bash his head in. Jay and Archie charge bravely at Cronus, only to be thrown onto their backs by the evil God's conjured-up force field to knock the young teens down. Stacy is totally blown away by what she is witnessing, and her guilt deepens each time she sees the brave heroes being battered around.

A reflection catches her eye, drawing her attention down to something shiny beside her. When Stacy glances curiously at it, she recognizes the object right away; it is the mirror which Neil had lent to her the day before he broke up with her. The sunlight is hitting the golden rim, shining directly into her eyes so she has to turn her head away. This suddenly gives her an idea. There is one shot. It can possibly be her only chance to make things right between her and Neil's friends. Quickly she picks up the golden framed mirror, flips it open and turns it around in order to capture the reflection of the sunset and directs it right into Cronus' eyes.

Cronus yells, but the bright light manages to blind the evil Time God long enough for Atlanta to take a flying leap and kicks him squarely on his head. He totters for a moment or two, but before he could recover Theresa jumps forward with her twirling nunchucks and whacks him upside his head. Grimacing in pain, he staggers back clutching his head. But, being a powerful and immortal being, he is not so easily defeated. As he opens his eyes Cronus notices that the young heroes had regrouped and are preparing to launch together in an attack, hoping no doubt to deliver a serious blow on him. His craggy face twists into a grimace with rage, but his head is hurting too much to concentrate fully on them. "Perhaps next time, then," he mutters. Before the brave teens could attack again Cronus summons his time portal, slips through it and makes good his escape.

"Gah! He got away, again!" Atlanta howls angrily, throwing up her hands in the air. Her teammates echo her frustration as well, looking in every direction in hopes they could somehow find clue where Cronus had gone, but in vain.

"Whoa…" Stacy gasps, taken aback at what she just witnessed. "What is going on?"

The young heroes turn around and look at her, and one of the redheaded girls – Theresa this time - starts walking toward Stacy. "We'd explain, but there is apparently not enough time." She says gently to the distressed blond girl.

"I see," Stacy replies, wondering if the redhead is referring the condition of Neil. She felt another pang of guilt and clutches the mirror to her chest.

Theresa looks curiously at the shiny object in Stacy's hand and her eyes widen in recognition. "Hey, that's Neil's mirror!"

"Yeah," Stacy murmurs. With a sad sniff she continues, somewhat bitterly, "Ironically, he lent it to me the day before we broke up."

Odie whoops in astonishment. "Wow! Talk about lucky!" He exclaims, laughing a little over the irony of this situation. "You know, Cronus thought Neil wasn't here with us. But in some way Neil _WAS_ with us - at least his mirror is. His luck is still with us after all!'

But Jay does not smile. "Speaking of which," He turns to Stacy and looks pleadingly at her, "we could really need your help."

Stacy looks back at the young team leader. "You are referring to the curse I have somehow caused…?" she asks tentatively, trying desperately to blink back her tears.

Jay nods somberly while Herry scratches his head sheepishly. "Um, yeah heh…" the brawny teen replies.

Stacy looks down for a moment, closes the golden-framed mirror and glances at the six teen heroes once again. She has the look of sheer guilt and shame. A few tears escape from her eyes and tickle down her cheeks. "How do I contact this…Nemesis?"

Before any of the young heroes could open their mouth to reply, a sudden noise is heard behind them. Fearing Cronus might be returning to finish them off; the teens all spin around, ready to defend whatsoever is coming their way. Instead, there stands a lovely but solemn woman in a beautiful red dress. She raises one eyebrow at their startled faces.

"I heard my name being called out. I sense someone here is in great pain." She purrs. With that she sashays over to Stacy and peers down coolly at her. Seeing the distressed look on her young face, the woman's dark eyes brighten up in recognition. "Oh, it's you again." She steps back a little to take a better look at Stacy and smirks. "What did you think of my little gift to you? It would seem your wish is coming true," she coos, her ruby lips curling up with cruel amusement. "I first caused him to feel deadly ill, and soon he won't be here with us any longer!" 

"No!" Stacy's heart sinks. She stands straighten up and looks at the Goddess in the eye. "I don't want him to die…"

Now the woman raises both eyebrows in surprise. "But you said…"

Stacy sighs. "I know what I said…I was wrong. I was angry when I said those things about Neil," She takes a long breathe and continues, "I would never wish anyone to die. Please…please take back that part of my wish!" Stacy finishes, looking pleadingly at the Goddess.

Looking nonplussed, Nemesis purses her lips and thinks about it for a moment. Then, with a frown and a sigh, she rolls her eyes skyward. "Fine. It's quite a shame too…your wish showed such promise." The Goddess lifts her hand up and makes a snapping sound with her finger and thumb together. "There, he will at least recover from his illness."

With a small smile of relief, Stacy bows her head slightly. "Thank you." She whispers just loud enough for Nemesis to hear.

"Yes," Nemesis then smiles, although without malice this time, and gives Stacy a knowing glance. "Just be careful of what you wish for next time, all right? I usually don't show any mercy to anyone."

"I will. Thank you," Stacy nods in agreement.

The Goddess in red turns towards the young six heroes and raises her eyebrow at them again. "Aren't you going to check up on your friend? He should be waking up soon."

"Oh! Right…thanks." Jay says with a slightly embarrassed chuckle as the teammates erupt into wild cheers behind him. He turns to look at Stacy with gratitude in his eyes. "And thank you, Stacy, for taking back your wish. We really appreciate that!"

Theresa is smiling happily as she approaches Stacy and throws her arms around her in a tight hug. "We just can't thank you enough, Stacy!" She steps back holds Stacy at arm's length. "We'd like you come with us to go check up on Neil. I think he'll be glad to see you!"

Stacy looks sadly at her and shakes her head slowly, breaking away from Theresa. "No," The amber-hair girl says softly. "I don't think so. He probably wouldn't want to see me." She looks up and frowns at the darkening sky. "I should go now, it's getting late. I'll probably see you guys at school sometime."

"Wait!" Herry steps forward from among the friends and bows slightly toward Stacy. "Would you like us to drop you off at home then, Stacy?" He offers kindly.

A little taken aback, Stacy looks up at the brawn teen and shakes head more strongly. "No thanks. I just live over there. My home is not far from the park. I really should get going. Bye!"

Before the young heroes could say anything Stacy picks up the rest of her things that fell out of her purse and runs off. They call out to her to come back, but in vain; she does not look back and is soon gone out of their sight.

Sighing, Odie looks around and realizes that the Goddess in red is gone as well. "Hey, where did Nemesis go?"

"Don't know," Jay replies, still looking in the direction where Stacy had gone. He turns to his teammates, look at them for a moment and a slow smile comes across his face. "Come on, let's go back to our dorm. Neil will be waiting for us!"

OoOoOoOoOoOo

It seems so hopeless. Neil's breathing is slowing to a point that he appears as though he is dead. The battle over this illness is finally taking its toll on him. There is no doubt that he is going to Elysian Fields any time now. Heartbroken, Aphrodite and the Nymphs hovering over him start wailing and mourning in earnest for the poor former model hero.

Without a warning, Neil suddenly twitches and takes in a deep breath. Echo jumps slightly when she feels her hand being squeezed in Neil's. Anxiously she watches his face and breaks into a relieved smile as the blond boy's eyes starts to blink and slowly opens. Scarcely able to believe her own eyes, she leans over her and whispers, "Neil…?"

The blond teen turns his head gingerly and glance over to his left. He seems surprised to see the same nymph who had kidnapped him a couple of months back. "Echo…?" He says in a hoarse voice.

A soft peachy-white hand reaches over and rests on his forehead. Curious, Neil moves his eyes and turns his head towards the owner of the hand. He recognizes the Goddess of Love and Beauty right away.

"Aphrodite…?" Now Neil is really confused. "What are you guys doing in my room?"

Aphrodite just smiles. Ignoring Neil's question, she instead she lifts her head and looks past him towards the door with a beautiful expression of sheer relief on her face. "His temperature has gone down, Hera." She chirps happily.

"Huh?" Neil struggles to sit up to take a look around in his room. To his surprise both Hera and Athena are standing there at the door.

Hera sighs with relief. "They did it…"

"Who did what…?" Neil asks, feeling as though he is out of the loop. Still experiencing a slight dizziness, Neil holds his head in his hand. "Really, please tell me what's going on…?"

Athena approaches him, leans over and places a hand on the boy's shoulder. "How are you feeling, Neil?"

The blond teen pauses for a moment to think about it. With a heavy sigh he replies simply, "Hungry."

Athena chuckles. "Ok, I'll go downstairs and make you something to eat right away!" The Goddess of War says with a grin and soon left the room.

"Oh, me too!" Echo declares happily. With a blink of an eye she disappears.

"Your friends should be arriving here soon. I'll go downstairs and wait for them." Hera announces with a smile before leaving the room as well.

Now there is only Neil, Aphrodite, and her two assistant nymphs. Neil shakes his head slowly, still looking confused. "I don't understand…?" He asks the beautiful Goddess beside him.

"It'll be alright now, Neil," She answers him in a loving voice, "You were very sick, but it looks like you will be recovering now. I'm sure you will feel much better after you get something to eat."

Almost by reflex Neil glances over to his closet that has mirror doors. His jaw falls open and he does a double take at his reflection; he had no idea how awful he looks! How long has he been like this? With a look of disgust he shudders and turns away. He needs to do something about his appearance, and soon! "Maybe I should have a bath before I eat"

"Good idea!" Aphrodite cheers proudly. She quickly turns to her attentive nymphs and points to the one with the short pink hair.

"You go start running some warm water in the bathtub. Make sure it's not too hot. And don't forget to add lots of bubbles!" The nymph nods to indicate she understands and immediately runs off to do as she is told.

The Goddess then looks towards the other nymph with the long blue hair. "You can start changing the bed sheets." The nymph smiles and acknowledges with a nod. Then she is running off as well, to grab some fresh sheets.

Now that her helpers are off to do her bidding, Aphrodite turns her attention back to her beloved protégé. "Come on Neil, let me help you up."

With some struggle Neil pushes the damp sheets off and moves towards Aphrodite. She grabs his arms and gently pulls him out of the bed and onto his feet. Slowly they make their way out the door and towards the bathroom down the hall.


	10. Best Grilled Cheese Ever

_(A/N: Sorry for the long delay. Both my beta-reader and I have been quite busy the past couple of months. We still are planning on posting the next chapters of our other COTT fanfic, "Teammate Down" soon. Hope you enjoy these last two chapters of this story)._

**Chapter 10: Best Grilled Cheese Ever**

Now that Neil is bathed and wearing a clean pair of pajamas, Aphrodite assists him in walking back into the bedroom. It is a struggle for him to walk on his own, as Neil is still very weak from being so sick in last couple of days. With a sigh of relief, Neil crawls back under fresh clean sheets into his bed and is pleased to see a tray containing a dish of scrambled eggs, toast and warm cup of orange peako tea on a night table waiting for him. He normally doesn't like to eat in bed, but he is starving (he hadn't eaten anything in almost a week) so he will make an exception this time.

First Neil gets himself comfortable under the blanket while Aphrodite's nymph helpers fuss around him, adjusting his pillows and making sure he is warm enough. Athena has left the room, presumably to check with Hera. As soon as he is happy with the cozy position he is in, Neil eagerly grabs a piece of toast and starts chewing on it. Before even swallowing the first bit of his toast, Neil stabs at the scrambled eggs with a fork and quickly shovels it into his mouth. Oh, the ecstasy! The breakfast never tastes so good as this, especially when it is prepared by immortal beings. To him, the breakfast is like ambrosia to him. Neil smacks his lips gleefully with deep appreciation.

Before he knew it, Neil had finished all of the scrambled eggs and is now working on the last piece of toast. As he pops the final bite into his mouth, he grabs a cup of tea to wash it down. To his delight it is at perfect temperature, nice and warm as it travels down his still sore, irritated throat.

"My, I don't think I have ever seen you eat that fast before!" Aphrodite says with astonishment. Neil blushed slightly as he pulls the now empty cup away from his mouth.

"Guess I haven't been this hungry before." He admits sheepishly.

Athena soon returns. She instantly notices the empty plate, save for a few toast crumbs. "Whoa, you're done already?" The Goddess of War says, stunned.

"Yeah," Neil nods, blushing again a bit.

Athena picks the plate up off the side table and glances at him. "Would you like more, Neil?"

"Sure, perhaps later I can go outside for a bit." He says with a hopeful tone in his voice. Athena immediately frowns.

"Don't get too excited, Neil," Athena warned, "I want you to stay indoors for at least another week just to be on the safe side. Apparently you did suffer pneumonia, and I want to make sure that is completely out of your system!"

Neil pouts at her. "I can't be stuck inside for a week, Geez…" He mutters in a barely audible tone, glaring angrily into his empty tea cup. The Goddess of War looks sharply at him.

"What was that?" She growls, raising an eyebrow.

Realizing he is nearly caught talking back to a Goddess, Neil freezes for a second, then looks up with a sheepish grin and holds up his cup. "I said; I would like more tea please." He chirps brightly with a disarming grin.

"Oh, of course, I'll be right back." Athena smiles, takes Neil's cup along with the empty plate and walks out of the room.

As soon as Athena leaves, Neil let out a sigh of relief and glances over to Aphrodite. But before either of them could say anything, Echo materializes suddenly into the room, holding a plate with a hot, lightly browned square on it.

"Hi, I'm back." The blond nymph chirps happily. "I made you something!" So saying, she lowers the plate for Neil to see what it is.

The blond boy glances at it before looking up at Echo.

"It's a…grilled cheese sandwich." He says, tilting his head in confusion.

"Right!" Echo nods. "Remember when I told you that I would make you the best grilled cheese ever, but then we had a little break up. Well, I kind of felt bad about that so when you woke up I figured this would be the perfect time to make you the sandwich I promised you a while ago. Here…try it!" She finishes, handing him the plate.

"Thanks," he says politely, silently thanking the stars that she finally stops yapping long enough to give him the sandwich. Carefully he takes a small bite and had to admit it tastes really good. Idly he wonders what kind of cheese she used to make it. He swallows the first bite, and then opens his mouth to take an even bigger piece of the sandwich.

"Weeelll…You can say it anytime now…" Echo coos playfully at him.

With an exasperated sigh, Neil looks up at her. "Fine," he says, and takes a moment to swallow in order to continue talking, "It's the best Grilled Cheese ever!" he pauses, and when he notices Echo still hovering over him expectantly, he frowns slightly. "Can I finish eating it, now?"

"Oh…of course," the blond nymph ducks her head and blushes. With a sheepish grin she stands back to give Neil enough space, thus allowing him to resume eating his sandwich again. Echo glances over at Aphrodite, who gives the young nymph a knowing smile. Then the lovely Goddess turns to Neil and gazes him fondly and proudly.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

As soon as Herry's truck comes to a stop, everyone leaps out and heads up through the gate into the backyard of the Brownstone Dormitory. The moment they rush though the kitchen door the six young heroes sees Athena pouring some tea into a cup. More importantly, Hera is seated at the nearby table looking on. Immediately Jay approaches Hera with a tentative look on his face.

"Hera, how's Neil…?" The young leader asks hopefully.

Hera smiles warmly. Raising her hand and gesturing toward the stairs, she replies, "Why not go up and see for yourself?"

Jay's face breaks into a broad grin. "Did you hear that?" He says in an excited voice, turning eagerly to the teammates. The look on their faces speaks volumes; without another word, they all clamber nosily up the steps, nearly trampling on one other in their eagerness to reach Neil's room. As soon as they reach the hallway on the second floor, they can hear Echo's voice babbling away from the room.

Meanwhile, both Neil and Aphrodite are looking a little annoyed, even impatient as they listen to Echo chattering cheerfully on, practically non-stop.

"…And so that is why I figured just because it didn't work out between us it shouldn't mean that we can't still hang out as friends, right…?" The blond nymph pauses for a moment and looks at Neil, waiting expectantly for his answer.

The young blond man stirs uneasily. "Er, right…I guess." He replies slowly after a few seconds and hastily finishes off the last piece of the grilled cheese sandwich.

Echo beams happily. "Ok, and when you get better we could possibly plan on a day when we can hang out to talk and stuff…"

Neil lets out a small exasperated sigh, leans towards Aphrodite and whispers, "I think I liked it better when she dumped me…"

"Hey, I heard that!" Echo snaps, looking thoroughly miffed. Neil blushes and glances at her with a sheepish grin. Aphrodite hurriedly puts her hand over her mouth to smother a snicker. She recovers quickly, though and looks more kindly at Echo.

"Maybe you should go now and let Neil rest for a bit…?" The lovely Goddess suggests gently to the immortal nymph.

Echo blinks at her and sighs. "Fine," she says, "We can talk later I suppose…" With a flicker of an eye she disappears. Neil, relieved to have gotten rid of the chatterbox, exhales noisily, put away the plate and slides down his bed with a small happy moan. "Ah, bliss…" he murmurs to himself.

Just then there is a knock on the door.

"Come in," Neil calls out, and immediately goes into a small coughing fit. It is not as bad as when he was really sick earlier this week, but it is enough to tell that Neil is not quite over the bronchitis and other illnesses.

The door opens and Jay walks in. He is quickly followed by Herry, Atlanta, Archie, Theresa, and Odie. Jay's face lit up when he sees a very alert Neil looking at them. His grin broadens when Neil slowly sits up in order to greet the visitors.

"Hey Neil, glad to see you are getting better!" Jay declares happily. The teammates echo the same sentiment, their faces wreathed in huge smiles.

Neil smiles back and nods. "Yeah, I feel better after having a bath too." The blond teen replies proudly.

"Excuse me, children," It is Athena, entering the room with a cup of tea in her hand. Once she approaches Neil she leans over him and proffers the cup. "Here you go, Neil." She says with a smile.

"Thanks," he says. He takes the cup, sip from it, and as he does so his face becomes thoughtful. He turns to his friends, looking at them in slight confusion. "I was told that the Goddess Nemesis did this to me, made me sick. How did you guys convince her to stop?"

Odie smiles and steps forward, answering for everyone. "Actually, it was Stacy who convinced Nemesis to reverse the curse."

"Oh," A guilty look flushes suddenly across on Neil's face. After a moment he looks down and mumbles, "I guess I should go thank her when I'm all better."

Theresa nods. "I think she'd appreciate that."

Neil, still wrapped up in his thoughts, takes another sip of tea. He reflects on what could have happened if his ex-girlfriend hadn't done something about it. He realizes he owes this much to Stacy, and he needs to make it up to her…somehow.


	11. Closure

**Chapter 11: Closure**

It has been over a week since he started getting better and Neil couldn't be any happier when he is finally allowed out of the Dorm. He still has a lingering cough now and then, but according to Athena the pneumonia is no longer a concern. And that is good news indeed.

Today is Monday afternoon, and Neil is strolling down the school hall as he always has. He stops in front of his locker, and after fiddling with the dial, he unlocks the combination. Once again, out of habit, Neil opens the locker door and begins to preen himself in the mirror. He is quite pleased to see his handsome face healthy and wholesome, not as pasty and sick as it was from last week. Yes, indeed, he is still as good-looking as ever! As he brushes his hair back happily with his fingers, the reflection of a familiar figure in the mirror approaching him from behind catches his attention. Surprised, Neil turns around and comes face to face with a very nervous-looking Stacy who instantly freezes as soon as he looks at her.

Stacy gulps audibly. She knew that when this day eventually comes that she will have to see him and talk with him – indeed, she had been planning to speak what she wanted to say to him the moment she sees him. But now that they are actually in presence of each other, she becomes tongue-tied. She just stands there too scared to make a sound. Her fear escalates when her ex-boyfriend closes his locker and turns his full attention on her. It is all becoming too much for her to handle it! She thought she would be able to confront him; now she is too nervous to hear what he has to say. Averting her eyes, Stacy turns and starts walking away without uttering a single word.

Neil looks at her, confused as why she is heading away from him. "Stacy, hold on!" He calls out, "Don't go now! I want to speak to you!"

Reluctantly, Stacy stops and takes a long breath. After a moment of silence, she swallows a large lump in her throat and finds her voice at last.

"I thought you wouldn't want to ever speak to me after what had happened." She says quietly, not daring to look over her shoulder.

Taken back by that comment, Neil ducks his head and scratches the back of his head in a sheepish manner.

"Yeah, well…" he chuckles nervously, trying to think what to say next. He sighs and looks at her. "From what I've been told, you were the one that undid the curse and saved my life."

Slowly Stacy turns her head to face the blond hero teen. _Damn his beautiful features. _She thought sadly. How can she convince herself that it is never meant to be anything special between them when he keeps looking at her with his gorgeous blue eyes, especially after it was her fault that he got very sick in the first place? She tries to smile at him, but then her smile falters and she turns away, looking down at the floor in shame.

For the next few seconds both stand in awkward silence as the other students, blissfully oblivious, walk blithely past them on their way to the classrooms. The bell goes off, echoing down through the hallway, alerting everyone that their classes are about to commence in five minutes.

Neil sighs. "Well, I guess I should get going…" He says quietly and, slowly, he begins to turn away from her. Stacy can bear it no longer.

"Neil wait…!" She cries, suddenly remembering what she had wanted to say.

Neil turns back and gazes at her curiously with a raised eyebrow.

Stacy reaches into her little purse, fumbles for a few seconds and pulls out a golden framed pocket mirror with a monogrammed 'N' on top of it. Shyly she proffers it to him. "I've been meaning to give this back to you." She murmurs softly.

Neil blinks in surprise. "Hey, I've been looking for that…" he trails off, accepting the return of his mirror. Then he tilts his head and looks quizzically at her. "Where did you find it?"

Stacy frowns in consternation. "You, um, lent it to me the day before you broke up with me."

Looking slightly bewildered, Neil tries to remember. "But I…" At once it hits him, and his cheeks turn pink. "Oh…right." He replies lamely.

Again the two of them stand gazing at each other in awkward silence. Save for a few straggling students, the hallway is pretty much empty. Finally Stacy takes another deep breath and opens her mouth to speak. "Well, I should get to class now."

"Right, right…me too." Neil nods in agreement.

Mutely he watches Stacy walks slowly away, her shoulders visibly sagging. A sudden pain hits him in the heart. It feels like a long, hot sharp needle piercing though his chest. He gasps, and realizes that his guilt is stinging him. He didn't want it to end like this. He must do something, and quick!

"Um, hey, Stacy…?"

The amber-haired teen turns to look at him. Something about the way she is looking at him so expectantly, her eyes seeming almost hopeful. This time it is Neil who freezes, totally at loss what to say. Looking at her, Neil knows there has to be some way to show her how grateful he is. Thinking frantically on what he could do and say, Neil glances down at his hand and sees his precious mirror. At once he smiles. Waving the golden mirror with the monogrammed 'N' in the air, he grins brightly at her.

"Thanks!" he calls out.

Stacy stares at him. _Is that all Neil can say?_ Her shoulders droop again in near total disappointment. It seems to her that he is only happy to have his mirror back – and that's it. Stacy feels like crying. But a moment later, though, she stiffens her back and bravely lifts her chin high. In the past she'd run off in tears, but not this time. No use hoping for something that will never happen. She should have known by now. So, instead, she looks straight at Neil and gives him a crooked smile.

"Bye, Neil."

With that said Stacy turns her back again toward Neil and walks briskly and resolutely away, not daring to give him a second glance.

Neil is confused. Is it something he said? He worries briefly whether she would still talk to him. Should he run after her? But as he stands there indecisively, he looks down at his prized pocket mirror and smiles. _It sure is good to get it back though._ He thought happily. Opening the three-paneled mirror, Neil starts admiring at his appearance in all angles as he pivots on his heal to face the opposite direction. His smile fades when he sees a reflection of Stacy's backside, still walking away. Silently he watches as she turns around the corner and disappears.

With a heavy sigh, Neil feels again the sharp sting of guilt in his chest. Perhaps one day he could get back together with Stacy, but for now it might just be best to let her have some space.

Subdued, Neil closes his mirror, shoves it in his pocket and ambles down the hallway on his way to his class, the only sound of his fancy sneakers on the floor accompanying him.

**The End**


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